Grover C. Magnus 
The next announcement about BBC licensing fees “will be the last”, the Culture Secretary has said, amid reports it will be frozen for the next two years and then phased out after 2027.
The annual payment, which normally changes on April 1 each year, is expected to remain at the current rate of £159 until April 2024.
Nadine Dorries has indicated that she wants to find a new funding model for the BBC after the license fee funding agreement expires in 2027.
She wrote on Twitter: “This licensing fee announcement will be the last.
“The days when older people were threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocked on doors are over.
“Now is the time to discuss and debate new ways to fund, support and sell great UK content.”
The fee is set by the government, which announced in 2016 that it would increase with inflation for five years from April 1, 2017.
The BBC has previously been criticized for scrapping free TV licenses for everyone over 75, with a grace period on payment due to the Covid-19 pandemic ending on July 31.
Only those who benefit from a pension credit do not have to pay the annual sum.
A BBC source told The Sunday Times: “There are very good reasons to invest in what the BBC can do for the British public and the creative industries, and the (profile of) the UK in the world. .
“Anything below inflation would put an unacceptable strain on the BBC’s finances after years of cuts.”
The BBC declined to comment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has also been contacted for comment.
Broadcaster Dan Walker defended the BBC license fee, saying it is “43 pence a day”.
A host of famous faces, including sports broadcaster Gary Lineker and comedian Nish Kumar, have shown solidarity with the company after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries indicated licensing fees would be waived.
The annual payment, which normally changes on April 1 each year, is expected to remain at the current rate of £159 until April 2024.
BBC Breakfast host Walker, who appeared in Strictly Come Dancing 2021, shared an image on Twitter from the various BBC TV and radio stations with the caption ’43p a day’.
In a subsequent tweet, Walker, 44, clarified: “I am well aware that the BBC is making mistakes and needs to change, but the media landscape would be much poorer without it.
“These three letters are trusted and respected around the world.”
The TV presenter was fired from the BBC One dance series after his tango quarter-final with partner Nadiya Bychkova failed to earn him a place in the semi-finals.
Similarly, former England football star Lineker retweeted an image from the BBC’s press office which shows the content viewers get when they pay the license fee.
The 61-year-old later wrote: ‘Yes the BBC brings you the very best in news, sport, drama, music, youth, science, history, entertainment , current affairs and Sir David Bloody Attenborough….but apart from that what has the BBC done for us?
He then retweeted a video of the 1986 TV license advert ‘what the BBC ever did for us’, adding: ‘The BBC is revered, respected and envied around the world.
“It should be the most precious of national treasures. Something that the true patriots of our country should be proud of.
“It should never be a voice for members of government, whoever is in power.”
Comedian Nish Kumar, 36, also tweeted: “I know everyone hates the BBC right now, and there’s good reason for that, but ending licensing fees is bad news.”
Comedian Rachel Parris, 37, wrote on Twitter: “Just a reminder that the BBC license fee doesn’t just pay Strictly.
“CBebies, GCSE Bitesize, The Proms, Radio 6 music, Popmaster, Attenborough and the World Service plus ‘news where you are’…”
Writer, producer and director Armando Iannucci also commented on Twitter to respond to Ms Dorries.
On several tweets, Mr Iannucci, 58, said: “I think this will probably be your last rather than the BBC.
“First you come for @channel4 because you don’t like its coverage of events.
“Now you come for the BBC because you don’t like its reporting on events.
“Have you ever wondered if the events themselves are the problem?
