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MPs consider trashing compulsory BBC licence fee for subscription service

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

October 4, 2014 | 3 min read

The BBC licence fee has come under review from MPs, with critics calling into question the ethics behind enforcing the fee during a period of national austerity - especially with the internet offering arguably more competitive content.

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid

The fee, first introduced in 1922, currently sits at £145.50 annually and is legally compulsory for all UK TV owners to pay who actively watch live or stream TV.

However, MPs claim that this is no longer fair during austerity where public services are seeing cuts.

Annually, 200,000 UK citizens end up in court for non-payment of the licence fee, and as a result the UK government is considering introducing the fee as subscription service, more on par with Netflix.

A one-year Netflix subscription would only come to £84, raising the question of the fairness of enforcing the fee.

The debate was sparked by culture secretary Sajid Javid, speaking as the BBC’s royal charter comes up for renewal, where the reform could be implemented.

Javid told the Daily Mail: “£145.50 is a lot of money for some people. It’s incumbent on all public bodies to be vigilant when spending other people’s money and the BBC is no exception to this.”

Earlier this year, David Elstein, a former Sky and ITV television executive, a member of the a BBC review panel, said: “It is socially unjust that so many are fined and indeed go to prison for not paying the licence fee.

“And it makes more sense too for the BBC to move to subscription from 2020, which is about the date when set-boxes go, and standard definition is phased out to high definition.”

A BBC spokesman however told the Daily Mail: “At 40p a day the licence fee is tremendous value and ensures that everyone gets access to great content that informs, educates and entertains.

“Support for the licence fee has risen by 22 per cent since 2004 and remains the most popular way of funding the BBC across all ages and socio-economic backgrounds.”

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