The release of this report by the Public Accounts Committee, overseeing taxpayer money usage, delivers another blow to the BBC, already embroiled in controversy following a misleading edit of a Donald Trump speech, which led him to threaten legal action against the British public broadcaster for defamation.
A BBC spokesperson confirmed today that a board member, Shumeet Banerji, whose term was due to end next month, “notified the board of his resignation.”
According to the BBC’s website, Banerji cited “governance issues.”
The scale of the deficit in license fee collection, from which the BBC derives 65% of its revenue, emerges amidst a tense atmosphere.
Currently, the cost to taxpayers is £174.50 (almost €200), from a total revenue that reached £3.8 billion in the last fiscal year (April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025).
This figure needs to be renegotiated by the end of 2027 as part of the BBC’s ten-year contract renewal with the British Government.
Parliament members found that an analysis of the BBC’s accounts revealed a license fee collection fraud rate of 12.5%.
Moreover, 3.6 million families now claim not to need a license, asserting they do not watch the BBC anymore, compared to 2.4 million in 2021.
Overall, for the 2024-2025 period, the combined effect of fraud and declining audiences constitutes a potential loss of £1.1 billion, according to the report, which notes that “the BBC is not doing enough to ensure the payment of the license fee.”
Parliament members have called for a reform of the enforcement system, noting that home visits are “becoming increasingly ineffective.”
Although the number of visits to unlicensed residences increased by 50% last year, this did not result in higher license fee payments or increased legal actions for non-compliance.
In the report, the BBC cited difficulties in conducting audits, as many taxpayers refuse to open their doors to auditors.
The license fee “needs reform,” the BBC admitted in a statement.
“We are actively exploring all options to make our funding model fairer, more modern, and sustainable,” the statement added.
However, “any reform should preserve the BBC’s status as a universal public broadcaster,” insisted the broadcasting giant.
The report highlights another challenge: attracting a younger audience that currently prefers other media outlets over the BBC.
