BBC may face £130m licence fee cut

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Technology minister Lord Carter is to propose "top slicing" the BBC's budget by up to £130m to help under-pressure ITV and other programme makers, the Sunday Telegraph said.

His White Paper - to be presented to Cabinet on Tuesday - could also call for Channel 4 to receive financial support through a partnership with BBC Worldwide, the corporation's lucrative commercial arm.

Under the reported proposals, up to £100m of the BBC's funding could be used to pay independent companies to make regional news programmes for ITV.

And another £30m of licence fee money could be made available for producers to make current affairs documentaries to be viewed either on television or on the internet.

The Telegraph said Ben Bradshaw, the newly-appointed Culture Secretary, had held a meeting with senior BBC executives in the last few days to discuss the proposals.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment but did confirm the long-awaited report would be put to ministers this week.

The BBC was unavailable for comment. But last month Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, said the licence fee should only be used to pay for BBC-related content.

He said: "People would do well to remember that licence fee payers give us their money in good faith, believing it will be spent on BBC services and content.

"To suddenly tell them midway through the settlement that their money is being siphoned off, as some have suggested it should be, would be more than an act of bad faith, it would be tantamount to breaking a contract."