BBC licence fee ‘unenforceable’ and unfair as Culture Secretary demands review

Women are three times more likely to be prosecuted for not paying the fee than men (Image: Getty)

The BBC licence fee is “unenforceable” and unfairly targets women, the Culture Secretary has said. Lisa Nandy, the minister who has overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said that there were “problems” with the annual fee, that sees women disproportionately prosecuted for non-payment.

She went to call for a “fairer” and “more sustainable” funding model to be found ahead of a formal review of the BBC’s Royal Charter. The current charter, which defines the agreement between the BBC and government, expires in 2027 and there have been calls for it to be made voluntary or for people to be given the option to opt out. Ms Nandy was responding to questioning by The Telegraph in which she gave her strongest statement on the matter since taking over the role following last year’s general election.

The government has been under pressure to decriminalise not paying the license fee (Image: Getty)

She said: “We recognise there are problems with the licence fee. Fewer and fewer people are paying it.

“It’s unenforceable and particularly I’ve been very concerned about the way it’s been enforced in the past, with women – particularly vulnerable women – targeted for enforcement action, and the BBC itself has accepted that.

“So we know that there are problems with the licence fee system as it currently exists. We’re about to kick off the Charter review… and as part of that we’re reviewing the licence fee.”

Research shows that women are far more likely to be prosecuted for failing to pay than men, with three in four of those convicted for not paying being women.

Such is the prevalence of females being convicted that the 114,000 convictions in 2019 for failure to pay accounted for 30% of all female convictions.

The Culture Secretary has not ruled out a change to way the corporation generates income (Image: Getty)

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Last year, the fee rose by £5 but the organisation has been criticised for a reverse gender pay gap and controversial translations on a film about Gaza.

The corporation has faced calls to modernise, either by providing an opt out method to consume content, or an opt in style subscription service like Netflix.

Ms Nandy added: “We’re open to a different system, but we haven’t put forward any preferred options at this stage.

“We want the public to get involved in the conversation, and we want your readers to be able to tell us what they think a fairer, more sustainable system would look like.

“We know that the licence fee and the BBC as a whole has to command public support in order to survive and thrive, and that’s why we’re putting the power back into the public’s hands to be able to drive that conversation.”