22 January 2007
Raising the television licence fee by 3% over the next two years will fund a £600 million project to enable digital switchover for the country's elderly and disabled, culture secretary Tessa Jowell declared.
Consumers will see the price of a TV licence rise from £131.50 to £135.50 on April 1st before rising gradually to a maximum £151.50 in 2012.
During a statement made in the House of Commons, Ms Jowell stated that the settlement for the BBC "provides stability and certainty over the next crucial period of digital switchover" and that the BBC may have to provide an additional £14 million to help Channel 4 with its switchover costs.
While BBC director general Mark Thompson criticised the increase for not being enough to provide its viewers with quality programmes, Ms Jowell argued that the BBC would have enough money to lead the switch to digital television, move key departments to Greater Manchester and still have enough left over to improve the quality of its programmes.
An increase in the number of single-person households over the next few years will provide extra cash for the corporation, but it will still have to find an extra £600 million to pay for set-top boxes for those over 75-years-old and other vulnerable groups making the switch to digital television and £200 million to publicise the move.
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