300,000 households abandoned their television licences last year, opting instead for streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
UK households handed £174 TV Licence refunds after BBC resignations
UK households are getting £174 refunds from TV Licensing after the BBC Director-General resigned. Around 300,000 households abandoned their television licences last year, opting instead for streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
And they’ll be getting up to £174 refunds from TV Licensing. The TV Licence fee is expected to rise from £174.50 to about £181, based on September’s inflation rate of 3.8 per cent.
This would mean an increase of almost £7 for households across the UK, with the final amount to be confirmed in the coming weeks. People who can get refunds include Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) Pension Credit recipients, as well as discounts for those who are blind, living in care homes, and shared accommodation.
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A standard TV Licence costs £174.50. Most people spread the cost with a Direct Debit, from £14.54 per month. There are also concessions and other types of licences.
It comes after the shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness.
Samir Shah said the BBC had mishandled an internal review of the matter but defended the corporation against claims it had buried stories or done nothing to address claims of bias, which he said were “simply not true”.
David Yelland, who edited the Sun from 1998 to 2003 and now presents a BBC podcast, told Radio 4’s Today programme that the departures were “a coup”.
And the Liberal Democrats ‘ Ed Davey said on Monday that it was in Britain’s national interest to defend the BBC from foreign interference.
“It should be extremely concerning to us all to see the President of the United States pressuring the BBC over its leadership and attacking its journalists as corrupt,” Davey wrote.
“It should not be up to foreign powers to dictate where the British people get their news from. We must stand united to defend our democracy from foreign interference like this – even when it comes from a crucial ally.”