Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

TV Licence Fee

Thursday 6 January 2022 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Jacob Young asked the Minister about the growing support for scrapping the TV licence fee, citing issues in Redcar and Cleveland following a mast fire.
  • The Minister acknowledged the difficulty faced by constituents due to the mast fire and stated that 98% of households have now had their Freeview service restored.
  • The Minister noted the ongoing work with Arqiva to urgently restore services affected by the mast fire.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jacob Young
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Following a fire at the Bilsdale mast, many residents in Redcar and Cleveland lost TV reception. Constituents were not given refunds, prompting questions about fairness and expectations of similar services.

Question

The Minister will know that there is growing support for scrapping the licence fee or axing the TV tax, not least in Redcar and Cleveland, where the Bilsdale mast fire left people without TV reception. Does the Minister agree that this is not an acceptable situation and that if the BBC were a satellite, broadband or phone provider, a refund for time without service and, in some cases, even further compensation would have been expected? Given that the BBC is using my constituents' licence fees to pay celebs hundreds of thousands of pounds—

Answer from Julia Lopez

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the plight of his constituents after the mast fire in Bilsdale. I have been working very closely with Arqiva to try to restore those services urgently, and I believe 98% of households have now had their Freeview restored, but I believe the BBC has also been issuing refunds. It has got to something like 11,000 refunds now; if my hon. Friend wishes to take this issue up with the BBC, I recommend that he do so.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Further compensation or changes in policy for refunding TV reception issues

How: If My Hon. Friend Wishes To Take This Issue Up With The Bbc

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