BBC Insiders Alarmed Over Funding Deal That Blows $100M Hole In Budget & “Threatens Independence”
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: BBC insiders have voiced alarm over a funding deal that has blown a £90M ($113M) hole in the UK broadcaster’s finances and sources say potentially threatens its independence.
The British government announced on Thursday that it would increase the BBC’s income in line with inflation, but ministers have ripped up the agreed way of measuring this price hike and the timetable for future funding settlements.
A senior BBC insider said it was an “unhealthy way to do business.” Culture secretary Lucy Frazer said the license fee, a levy that all UK households must pay to access BBC services, will increase by 6.7% from April 2024.
This was the spot rate of inflation in September this year. Traditionally the government has pegged licence fee increases to an annual average of inflation, which would have been 9% in 2024 had this calculation been kept in place.
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