The future of the BBC is too important to be left to politicians. We all fund the BBC through the licence fee, so it is vital that citizens and consumers have the opportunity to contribute to the debate about its future.
The previous licence fee settlement in 2010, conducted in secrecy over the course of a weekend, resulted in a shabby settlement which we believe was not in the interests of licence payers, or indeed of the BBC itself. The agreement undermined the established principle that the licence fee should fund, almost uniquely, the BBC’s services to viewers and listeners in the United Kingdom. Other pet political projects were thrown into the pot. ‘Top slicing’ of this kind has a greater long-term impact on the BBC’s finances than the level of settlement; and it undermines the very clear relationship between the BBC and the people who fund it.
We welcome calls from the BBC Trust and from the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee that there should be an open and inclusive debate about the BBC’s future, including its funding. So it was shocking and disgraceful that the decision to make BBC take on responsibility for funding free licences for the over-75s was taken with no public consultation of any kind.
