Government considers cutting licence fee due to ‘outrageous’ BBC spending

According to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, the new government is considering cutting the cost of the TV licence fee, based on the ‘extraordinary and outrageous’ waste of the BBC.

In an recent interview, Hunt claims that they have to “make tough decisions like everybody else”, and that “there are a huge numbers of things that need to be changed at the BBC”.

This would echo the 50% budget cuts that government departments have warned about; part of the government’s plan to help the UK’s debt problem in the current economic climate.

Although Hunt was not specific about the amount he would expect the £145.50 to fall, he did claim that it could definitely be dropping, and that the corporation needed to understand the financial problems that our country is finding itself in. He also said that the government and the BBC were already discussing the changes. These alterations would take effect in 2012, when the BBC applies for a licence renewal.

The BBC has been under criticism in recent months for not publishing the salaries of their presenters, including the expensive Jonathan Ross (rumoured at £18 million for a three year contract), and Graham Norton. Although the corporation claimed that their talent’s salaries are a private matter between them and the artist, the public have reacted differently.

However, the BBC has already claimed that it will cut down executive salary costs and that it will close its pension scheme to new members – prompting accusations of a ‘pre-emptive strike’ before the licence fee cuts.

In response, BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas says that the BBC already understand the message that Jeremy Hunt is sending them, by reiterating the BBC’s previous claims and saying that, “in recent weeks, [the BBC has] proposed a substantial reduction in pensions for many staff, agreed to cut its top managers’ pay bill by a quarter over 18 months, and said it will publish the names of its highest-earning stars”.