The BBC‘s chairman is leaning towards a household levy that could see people pay more for their licence fee depending on the value of their property.
Dr Samir Shah, 73, who took up the role a year ago following the resignation of Richard Sharp, questioned why poorer households should have to pay the same amount for their BBC licence fee as those with pricier homes.
It comes as freezes in the licence fee – which is currently £169.50 – alongside a decline in the number of people paying has contributed to a 30 per cent decline in the BBC’s income in real terms over the past decade.
Dr Shah said he does not agree with former former director-general Greg Dyke, who once branded the BBC ‘hideously white’.
‘[It’s] more diversity of thought. It’s on, frankly, the northern working class where we’re poor. That’s where the focus should be,’ Dr Shah told The Times.
Mulling over the corporation’s options for licence fee costs, Dr Shah said that a Netflix-style subscription service would not meet the BBC’s aim to ‘offer something for everyone in the country’.
Meanwhile, funding from general taxation ‘would leave the BBC open to influence’ from the current government, threatening the ‘independence’ of the corporation.
Another option would be an annual charge for everyone living in the UK, possibly a reformed licence fee or levy on every household.
The charge, according to Dr Shah, would have to be progressive and depend on factors such as property value.
BBC chairman Dr Samir Shah (pictured) is leaning towards a household levy that could see people pay more for their BBC licence fee depending on the value of their property
‘Why should people who are poor pay the same as people in wealthy households?,’ he said.
Council tax bands or income tax bands may be used to make a scale, with homeowners in the top bands paying a higher fee.
Meanwhile, the BBC pays senior managers who are from diverse backgrounds more than those who are not, The Telegraph reported yesterday.
According to statistics published in the corporation’s annual report, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), ethnic minority, female and disabled senior managers earn higher salaries than those not from those backgrounds.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC is committed to fair and equal pay for all, and all appointments are made on merit.
‘An external equal pay audit recently concluded that there was no evidence of systemic bias in our pay approach or policies.
‘We continue to monitor our pay gaps closely and do expect to see small fluctuations year-on-year, and we’d advise against the selective use of figures.’
Freezes in the licence fee – which is currently £169.50 – alongside a decline in the number of people paying has contributed to a 30 per cent reduction in the BBC’s income in real terms over the past decade (Pictured: The BBC building)
It comes days after Ofcom threatened to ‘step in’ after the production company behind a now-disgraced BBC documentary admitted it paid the family of a senior Hamas official.
In a scathing letter addressed to Dr Shah, the regulator warned it had ‘ongoing concerns’ about the broadcaster’s failings regarding sourcing for its controversial show.
The programme, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, was removed from BBC iPlayer last month after it was revealed the child narrator, a 14-year-old boy named Abdullah, is the son of a senior Hamas official.
The corporation revealed that the boy’s mother was paid by Hoyo Films ‘via his sister’s bank account’ for his involvement in the documentary.
