Here’s what your TV licence fee actually pays for as payment rise set to be blocked
Like many countries, including Germany, Ireland and Poland, the UK uses a TV licence fee system to help fund its public broadcaster – in our case, the BBC.
It seems every time there’s a proposed change to the amount it costs, there’s a political storm about it.
The latest came yesterday when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the BBC should be ‘realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this’ after it was reported the fee could rise by 9%.
In April 2024, the government’s freeze on the licence fee will come to an end, meaning it should rise by £15.
However, the PM has indicated he might block this jump, as Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said it was ‘high’.
Here’s all you need to know about the licence fee and why it exists.
How much is the licence fee?
Currently, the licence fee is £159 a year – unless you’re one of the 4,000 or so people in the UK who still has a black-and-white set, in which case it’s £53.50.
If the rise goes ahead as planned, after April next year it will cost £173.30 each year.
The culture secretary has said she will soon make a final decision on how much the fee will be.
One possibility is she will choose to raise it by September’s inflation rate of 6.7%, which means it would rise by £10.65 to £169.65 per year.
What channels does a TV licence cover?
Contrary to what some people think, the TV licence doesn’t just cover BBC channels.
You’ll need a TV licence if you watch any live television at all, including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and all the extra channels you get if you pay for a service like Sky or Virgin Media.
As well as all that, you need a licence if you use BBC iPlayer, and also if you live stream TV channels, news or sport using an online service like ITVX, Amazon Prime Video or Youtube.
You don’t need one if you are watching shows on catch-up (except on iPlayer) or if you’re using a paid-for subscription channel like Netflix or Amazon Prime (as long as you’re not streaming something live).
What does my TV licence pay for?
The TV licence is the main source of funding for all the services provided by the BBC.
That means all the national TV channels – BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC News and BBC Parliament – as well as country-specific ones like BBC Scotland and BBC Alba.
It also means Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Five Live, 6 Music, the Asian Network and too many local BBC radio stations to list, as well as BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and other digital services.
For 2022/23, the total amount raised by the licence fee came to £3.74 billion – down from £3.8 billion the year before.
Other sources of income added almost £2 billion to the BBC’s coffers.
However, it wasn’t quite enough to meet the corporation’s total running costs of almost £6 billion, meaning it ended the year with a £220 million deficit.
Who can get a free TV licence?
You qualify for a free TV licence if you are aged 75 or older and you, or your partner who lives at the same address, receive Pension Credit.
Before August 2020, everyone aged 75 or older qualified for a free licence, but the criteria was made more specific as the BBC struggled to raise enough cash.
Can you stop paying for it?
Yes, you absolutely can – but doing so legally means you can no longer watch live television or use BBC iPlayer.
If you’re caught watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally (ie, without a TV licence), the maximum fine is £1,000 plus any legal costs or compensation you may need to pay.
People without a licence fee are still able to use other catch-up services like All4 or ITVX and subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as long as you never stream live TV.
All of the BBC’s radio output and audio content on BBC Sounds can also be accessed without a TV licence.
If you’ve decided you don’t need a licence, the best thing to do is complete a No Licence Needed declaration on the TV Licensing website.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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