THE television licence fee will rise to £131.50 from April 1, an increase of £5, or 4.2 per cent, the Government announced.
Tessa Jowell, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said that the increase — settled in 2000 at inflation plus 1.5 per cent up to 2006-07 — would enable the BBC to continue to provide a “strong and distinctive schedule” and remain at the “forefront of broadcasting technology”.
Ms Jowell said that the BBC was required to raise more than £1 billion through efficiency savings and increased income over the period of the settlement.
The cost of a black-and-white television licence will rise to £44.
Television licence fees collected for 2000-01 to 2004-05 totalled more than £13 billion, Richard Caborn, the Culture, Media and Sport Minister, revealed in a written response to the Labour MP Derek Wyatt.