Select committee: Communications and Digital Committee
Conclusion 30
1st Report - Licence to change: BBC future funding
Published 18 Jul 2022
Paragraph 177
Communications and Digital Committee BBC future funding All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
A second digital switchover, whereby digital terrestrial television, and DAB and FM radio would be turned off, is unlikely to be feasible until the early 2030s at the earliest. If conditional access were not developed for DTT and DAB, this would make full subscription unfeasible until this point. Were such a plan to become feasible its benefits would need to be balanced against the needs of households less able to pay for and use new technologies.
From: Communications and Digital Committee, 1st Report - Licence to change: BBC future funding, paragraph 177, 18 July 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 October 2022 (deadline 13 October 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's report and says it "remain[s] committed to conducting a review of the funding model", with further details to be set out "in due course".
- It agrees with the Committee's view that the licence fee's drawbacks are becoming more salient and that a comprehensive review is "a necessity", and says it will take the Committee's proposed core principles into account as it prepares to launch a review.
- On independent market impact studies, it says it "will consider" the recommendation, and the potential for commissioning and publishing them, "as planning for the review progresses".
- On the three funding models the Committee does not recommend (recommendations 9, 10 and 12), it says it "will set out its position" "following the review", and on radio behind a paywall it does "not want to rule out options at this stage".
- On public engagement, it expects the review to "engage widely with stakeholders" and says the Charter Review will follow the requirement to consult the public and Parliament; it does not commit to a separate plan or citizens' assemblies.