The television licence fee will go up by three pounds, with Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw laying a Parliamentary order to approve the increase from next month.
The rise in the licence fee, is just the latest in a six-year plan approved back in January 2007, but arrives in an inevitable storm of criticism and brings the cost of a colour television licence to £145.50.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport argue that the January inflation figure stood at 3.5 per cent, which means that the £3, or two per cent, rise is actually below the increase to cost of living.
Hard times
But with the country still reeling from the economic crash, and government departmental cuts, the increase has drawn disapproval.
The whole idea of a licence fee remains controversial, with advocates pointing to a uniquely funded public service broadcaster like the BBC that is the envy of the world, and critics pointing to a 500 pound gorilla that holds too much power and is funded by what, in essence, is another tax.
The debate has raged for years, and with a general election looming it seems likely that the debate over the fee will soon become a political hot potato once again.
For now, however, the opposition party - the Conservatives - decided not to contest the increase, although they have not ruled out a cut to the fee should they win the election.
Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
tech89
March 10th 2010
3. I think the TV Licence should be split between bbc, itv, channel 4 and five.
The BBC over the last decade has proven it cannot responsible enough make itself more efficient and as such shouldn't deserve tax payers cash.
The selection and variety of programmes of BBC is poor. BBC dramas are hit and miss with people. BBC 2 programming is generally better than OK but BBC 1 falls well short of OK.
BBC Management and BBC so called 'stars' (including news presenters) are excessively paid too much.
The BBC has also shown it cannot be responsible in achieving value for money in its building programme, with 3 of its four construction projects going over budget because it did not properly analyse the tenders it received.
There are too many BBC radio stations.
If the BBC will not make itself more efficient and get a grip on its spending then why should we pay a higher licence fee?
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datawhinger
March 9th 2010
2. As regards to tv licence going up to£145 50 a yr as my wife and i are on our old age pensions we have no option to pay for it as it is our only bit of enjoyment we have,We will be getting a rise on our pensions of £2-00 a week that just cover's a razer blade these days
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paulom
March 9th 2010
1. In general I love the BBC, their online presence is absolutely brilliant. The iPlayer is amazing, it's my main portal for watching the BBC now. Also their online news service, in my opinion, is one of the best around and is my first place for news everyday. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of rubbish on the BBC and some people get paid too much, although some get paid a lot justifiably. But overall I don't mind paying an extra £3 if they continue to innovate they way they are, such as experimenting with BitTorrent and the new apps coming soon.
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