Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 3, 2009 20:34:18 GMT
Funny how while milking the BBC licence fee he saw nothing wrong with it, and fought tooth and nail to justify keeping it going. But once cast off, the ex director general of the BBC recommends scrapping it.
Greg Dyke tells Tories to strip BBC of licence fee and pay for corporation centrally
By Liz Thomas
Last updated at 5:06 PM on 02nd November 2009
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke is set to tell the Conservative Party to strip the broadcaster of the licence fee, in a damning report to be published next month.
Dyke, who is chair of the Tories media policy review group, is expected to propose that licence fee is scrapped and the BBC is funded from central government – either through a grant or from the general tax pot.
The move would save the £120 million a year that is spent on administering and enforcing the £142.50 annual levy.
It is being suggested that this money could be directed into funding for public service broadcasting on commercial channels such as ITV or on local news.
The BBC would still be funded by the public but its £3.6 billion income would come from general taxation or possibly even a government grant.
Dyke has called for the licence fee to be scrapped in favour ‘exchequer grant’ from the Treasury.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘The report is not finished yet and I won’t be commenting on it until it is.’
Insiders expect the suggestion to scrap the licence fee to be a key part of the report which is being put together by a panel of 12 senior industry figures including production company boss Elisabeth Murdoch, Lucian Grainge, head of Universal Music, and the Carphone Warehouse co-founder Charles Dunstone.
They have been tasked by Conservative leader David Cameron to come up with a policy plans for the creative industries.
It is also expected to tackle issues such as online piracy, the future of Channel 4 and public service broadcasting.
The BBC is fiercely against any attempt to break the connection between the corporation and the licence fee
Dyke presided over the BBC when it was at its largest prompting current director general Mark Thompson – then chief executive of Channel 4 – to accuse it of swimming in ‘jacuzzi’s of cash’.
In recent years he has slammed both the licence fee and the size of executive pay.
Earlier this year, he labelled the levy as “a desperately unfair tax” and predicted it will become harder to collect with the growth of internet television.
He added: ‘Fund the BBC by an exchequer grant and use the money currently spent on collecting the licence fee, which is somewhere around£150 million to£200 million, for the public service fund.’
The BBC is fiercely against any attempt to break the connection between the corporation and the licence fee, which although it is effectively a tax – it is collected independently of the Treasury.
Senior executives said it was ‘unthinkable’ that control should be handed over to the government.
A spokesman for the Trust said: ‘The funding of the BBC through the licence fee is clearly understood by the public.
‘Breaking this historic link would threaten the BBC's independence from Government, reduce accountability to licence fee payers and undermine the stability of funding that helps deliver a positive impact of £6.5billion on the UK's economy.’
According to the 2007-2008 annual report, the corporation spent £123 million collecting the licence fee in that financial year.
The broadcaster has been funded by licence fee since its inception in 1922.
The BBC had a staff of four, and was financed by a Post Office licence fee of 10 shillings, payable by anyone owning a receiver, and supplemented by royalties on radio sales.
Labour have put forward a ‘top-slicing’ proposal in which the licence fee money currently ring fenced to pay for helping people to switch to digital - about £130 million a year – is used to pay for public service programming on commercial channels.
The BBC rejected the plans insisting that levy was vital to maintain its independence.
The Conservatives have taken a tough line against the corporation’s spending and inflated salaries for stars and executives.
Earlier this month shadow chancellor George Osbourne warned the broadcaster that top executives would need written permission from the government to earn more than the prime minister's £194,254 salary under a Conservative regime.
Last week the BBC revealed it is slashing its £79 million pay bill for senior managers by 25 per cent but would not directly cut the salaries of fat cat executives.
Its total pay budget for the top 600 executives is currently a staggering £79 million and the BBC are trying to reduce that to around £60 million.
Currently 50 senior managers earn more than £200,000, with Thompson earning £647,000 and Mark Byford, his deputy, on £459,000, while 383 are paid more than £100,000.
The total remuneration for the BBC’s executive board – made up of just nine people - for the year to the end of March 2009 was £4.6 million.
The broadcaster will also axe 114 senior jobs over the next four years in a bid to tackle accusations that it is bloated with middle managers.
A further 400 executives will their management salaries frozen until 2011 while bonuses have been suspended until 2012.
By Liz Thomas
Last updated at 5:06 PM on 02nd November 2009
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke is set to tell the Conservative Party to strip the broadcaster of the licence fee, in a damning report to be published next month.
Dyke, who is chair of the Tories media policy review group, is expected to propose that licence fee is scrapped and the BBC is funded from central government – either through a grant or from the general tax pot.
The move would save the £120 million a year that is spent on administering and enforcing the £142.50 annual levy.
It is being suggested that this money could be directed into funding for public service broadcasting on commercial channels such as ITV or on local news.
The BBC would still be funded by the public but its £3.6 billion income would come from general taxation or possibly even a government grant.
Dyke has called for the licence fee to be scrapped in favour ‘exchequer grant’ from the Treasury.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘The report is not finished yet and I won’t be commenting on it until it is.’
Insiders expect the suggestion to scrap the licence fee to be a key part of the report which is being put together by a panel of 12 senior industry figures including production company boss Elisabeth Murdoch, Lucian Grainge, head of Universal Music, and the Carphone Warehouse co-founder Charles Dunstone.
They have been tasked by Conservative leader David Cameron to come up with a policy plans for the creative industries.
It is also expected to tackle issues such as online piracy, the future of Channel 4 and public service broadcasting.
The BBC is fiercely against any attempt to break the connection between the corporation and the licence fee
Dyke presided over the BBC when it was at its largest prompting current director general Mark Thompson – then chief executive of Channel 4 – to accuse it of swimming in ‘jacuzzi’s of cash’.
In recent years he has slammed both the licence fee and the size of executive pay.
Earlier this year, he labelled the levy as “a desperately unfair tax” and predicted it will become harder to collect with the growth of internet television.
He added: ‘Fund the BBC by an exchequer grant and use the money currently spent on collecting the licence fee, which is somewhere around£150 million to£200 million, for the public service fund.’
The BBC is fiercely against any attempt to break the connection between the corporation and the licence fee, which although it is effectively a tax – it is collected independently of the Treasury.
Senior executives said it was ‘unthinkable’ that control should be handed over to the government.
A spokesman for the Trust said: ‘The funding of the BBC through the licence fee is clearly understood by the public.
‘Breaking this historic link would threaten the BBC's independence from Government, reduce accountability to licence fee payers and undermine the stability of funding that helps deliver a positive impact of £6.5billion on the UK's economy.’
According to the 2007-2008 annual report, the corporation spent £123 million collecting the licence fee in that financial year.
The broadcaster has been funded by licence fee since its inception in 1922.
The BBC had a staff of four, and was financed by a Post Office licence fee of 10 shillings, payable by anyone owning a receiver, and supplemented by royalties on radio sales.
Labour have put forward a ‘top-slicing’ proposal in which the licence fee money currently ring fenced to pay for helping people to switch to digital - about £130 million a year – is used to pay for public service programming on commercial channels.
The BBC rejected the plans insisting that levy was vital to maintain its independence.
The Conservatives have taken a tough line against the corporation’s spending and inflated salaries for stars and executives.
Earlier this month shadow chancellor George Osbourne warned the broadcaster that top executives would need written permission from the government to earn more than the prime minister's £194,254 salary under a Conservative regime.
Last week the BBC revealed it is slashing its £79 million pay bill for senior managers by 25 per cent but would not directly cut the salaries of fat cat executives.
Its total pay budget for the top 600 executives is currently a staggering £79 million and the BBC are trying to reduce that to around £60 million.
Currently 50 senior managers earn more than £200,000, with Thompson earning £647,000 and Mark Byford, his deputy, on £459,000, while 383 are paid more than £100,000.
The total remuneration for the BBC’s executive board – made up of just nine people - for the year to the end of March 2009 was £4.6 million.
The broadcaster will also axe 114 senior jobs over the next four years in a bid to tackle accusations that it is bloated with middle managers.
A further 400 executives will their management salaries frozen until 2011 while bonuses have been suspended until 2012.