BBC Licence Fee To Rise 3%

The BBC licence fee is expected to rise by 3% over each of the next two years, seeing the current price rise from £131.50 currently to a maximum of £151 by 2012.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is also expected to announce today that a borrowing limit of between £220 million and £230 million will be set, which is well below the £400 million the corporation was seeking.

The BBC had been arguing for an above-inflation rise in the licence fee in order to boost funding for programmes and digital services.

Following the first two rises of 3%, the increases will slow to 2% for three years and then to between 0% and 2% for the final year.

The government has already announced that a £600 million portion of the settlement will be “ring-fenced” to help pay for the digital switchover.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk