BBC licence fee 'to rise by £10' next year

The BBC licence fee is set to increase by just over £10 next year, according to reports. This comes as the Government plans to reduce the previously agreed increase due to concerns about the cost of living.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is expected to announce the new licence fee in the Commons on Thursday. Earlier this week, she mentioned on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that ministers were considering the planned rise amid worries about living costs.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told reporters that the BBC needs to be "realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this". He also said that the BBC should "cut its cloth appropriately" as we continue to face high living costs.

The decision to increase the fee by a smaller amount will be a setback for the BBC, which is trying to save £500 million due to high inflation and a two-year freeze on the fee that provides most of its funding.

The corporation has already announced that Newsnight will be cut down to a 30-minute programme, resulting in more than half of the show's 60 jobs being lost. This is part of the cost-cutting measures in its news output.

BBC News At One will now be an hour long and will move to Salford. BBC Breakfast, which is also broadcast from Salford, will be extended by an extra 15 minutes every day.

These changes are expected to save the news division £7.5 million. Earlier this year, the BBC also said it would broadcast 1,000 fewer hours of new TV programmes this year to save money.

Other ways they're cutting costs include moving some World Service TV and radio broadcast services online, and merging the domestic and global news channels.

The announcement about the licence fee will come just a day after Dr Samir Shah was named as the