BBC Executive response
The new BBC Charter maintains the principle
of funding the BBC through the licence fee,
as essential to ensure its independence and
ability to fulfil its public purposes.
In this context, the recognition by the
NAO that the BBC has improved value for
money through its progress in collecting
the licence fee, increasing revenue every
year since 2010-11, reducing collection
costs, and improving the reputation of TV
Licensing among the general population
is very welcome.
Indeed, TV licence fee revenue has increased
every year since 2010-11, in spite of the cost
of the TV licence being frozen after 2010.
During the same period, the cost of collecting
the TV licence fee fell by 25% in real-terms.
This performance was achieved whilst
improving the overall reputation of TV
Licensing in the general population, with a
number of complaints has halved, since 2011.
The NAO also notes that the BBC’s
commercial arrangements with Capita and
Proximity show a number of elements of
good practice. This is a testimony to the
work the BBC has done in order to ensure
the management of its strategic contracts
complies with best practice.
We do recognise, as noted by the NAO, we
have not achieved the reduction in evasion
that we would like and we will now focus on
ensuring more licensed households do pay in
due course, in the most economic manner.
However, as recognised by the NAO, pressure
on household incomes can make it harder to
collect the licence fee.
We agree with the NAO recommendations,
which broadly correspond to actions we
have been planning following the changes in
legislation around when a licence is needed
but also in consumer behaviour:
We will update our analysis of the
minimum level of licence fee evasion
that is possible (the ‘evasion floor’)
to identify a current, realistic and
achievable ambition that reflects both
the latest legal changes around what
is licensable content and the new
ways of consuming this content.
We will review, in conjunction with
Capita, our strategy to improve the
effectiveness of its field activity in
generating licence fee sales and
catching evaders.
We are considering how we should
upgrade our old ICT systems, and plan
to complete this review by June 2017.
We will be reviewing the skills required
for our Licence Fee Unit in the future,
whilst noting the team has been very
successful so far.
BBC Executive response to the
National Audit Office’s value-for-money
review of TV licence fee collection