Television licence fee climbs to £147
The TV licence fee will increase for the first time since 2010, the Government has announced.
The annual fee for BBC programming will increase to £147 from £145.50 on April 1 this year, the Government has said.
The announcement comes as the broadcaster’s director general said TV licence collectors had “fallen short”, following reports they were deliberately targeting vulnerable people who have not paid.
Enforcement officers at Capita receive bonuses for selling TV licences to evaders and according to a Daily Mail investigation, these can be worth up to £15,000 a year.
The company is reportedly paid £58 million a year to collect licence fees for the broadcaster and its staff were said to have targeted vulnerable people, including a war veteran with dementia and a young mother in a women’s refuge.
In a letter to Capita’s chief executive Andy Parker, the BBC’s Tony Hall expressed his “serious concern” about the reports and called for “urgent clarification and reassurance” that vulnerable people were not being “targeted”.
The free concession for those aged over 75 remains while the cost of an annual black and white licence will rise from £49 to £49.50.
