BBC TV licence charge is ‘regressive’ and wealthier ought to pay extra, says ex-chairman

Better-off households ought to pay extra for the BBC, a former chairman has instructed, as he branded the present licence charge “regressive”.

Under the present system, Richard Sharp mentioned he was involved these on decrease incomes paid the identical as richer individuals for the general public service broadcaster.

He mentioned the controversial flat-rate levy might be changed by a cost linked to broadband payments or council tax.

The authorities is whether or not to switch the £159-a-year licence charge with a brand new funding mannequin after 2027.

The price is because of begin rising once more with inflation subsequent April, after a two-year freeze.

Mr Sharp, a Tory donor, quit as BBC chairman earlier this yr after a report discovered he breached guidelines by failing to reveal the position he performed in serving to then-prime minister Boris Johnson safe an £800,000 mortgage.

Questioning the equity of the licence charge, he instructed The Daily Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast: “I would be in favour of a form of a mandatory payment – currently the licence fee.

“There is one challenge which is it is regressive, which can must be addressed.”

Pointing out poorer households paid the same price, he added: “You can take a look at fashions around the globe, there is a broadband tax, there is a family tax and there is the licence charge. Change is disruptive from transferring from one mechanism that works to a different.”

Labour has beforehand indicated it might contemplate means-testing the charge if it gained energy.

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Women disproportionately prosecuted

Mr Sharp was additionally involved the best way the licence charge was enforced by door-stepping inspectors meant ladies have been disproportionately prone to be prosecuted for non-payment.

Failing to pay the licence charge is a criminal offense.

Almost 1,000 individuals per week – seven out of 10 of whom are ladies – are prosecuted for evasion.

He mentioned: “The two challenges are obviously it’s regressive and also that the collection process can fall harder on women because women often answer the door.”

Mr Sharp mentioned either side of the House of Commons “broadly support the BBC”, and that any modifications to its funding mannequin ought to be debated in parliament.

But he warned in opposition to decriminalising the licence charge, saying it might result in extra individuals being introduced earlier than the civil courts over non-payment.

He mentioned: “The sanction itself drives behaviour. If you go to civil litigation, you actually can increase the amount of litigation that takes place. So it’s not as obvious as you think.

“As a results of individuals paying the licence charge, you get a typical good, which is you get an unimaginable worth for what persons are really paying on a family foundation.”

In the wake of his personal expertise as chairman, Mr Sharp additionally mentioned he would advise somebody going for the job to “make sure you and your family know what you’re getting into” and warned it made them “a target”.

He mentioned: “It’s a sufficiently important institution that who ever is the chair is vulnerable.”

The challenge of freelancers and impartiality on the BBC was additionally “something that needed to be addressed”, he mentioned, after the controversy sparked by Gary Lineker when he compared the government’s language used to promote its asylum plans to 1930s Germany.