BBC World Service: Sustainability

Lord Grade of Yarmouth Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, following up the question of the noble Lord, Lord Birt, I ask the Minister a simple question: does she think it is fair that UK licence fee payers should have to pay so much towards the World Service?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

Do I think it is fair? I guess that depends on what you think the licence fee is for. That is part of what the charter review process will tease out. I accept that what a licence fee payer may have wanted to pay for in the 1950s and 1960s may well be different now, because things have changed. The World Service is a tremendous asset to this country. There are many licence fee payers who enjoy the World Service here in the UK, as well as around the world. What we need to achieve, certainly from my perspective, is the longer-term stability and success of the World Service.