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BBC's secret licence fee deal to fund £800m HQ
Felix Allen15 Dec 2008
BBC bosses negotiated a secret deal with the Government to guarantee the future of the licence fee until at least 2033 - so the broadcaster could secure funding for its huge building programme, former director-general Greg Dyke has revealed.
The corporation is defying the recession by spending more than £800 million on a striking new central London headquarters, built of glass and Portland stone, in an ambitious redevelopment of Broadcasting House.
The licence fee is officially due for review in 2012 and the BBC's royal charter expires in 2016.
But Mr Dyke, who masterminded the deal, said the building project was so huge it forced ministers to give secret written assurances that the corporation would be "properly funded" until at least 2033.
The assurances, from then culture secretary Tessa Jowell, allowed the corporation to win a coveted AA credit rating for its unprecedented 30-year bond issue, which raised £813 million for building works, Mr Dyke claimed.
He said: "When we were getting the bond we had to get an assurance from the Secretary of State that the BBC will still be around... and will still be properly funded."
Tory MP Philip Davies accused Ms Jowell of tying future governments' hands, adding: "She was giving an assurance she was not entitled to make. It's a constitutional outrage."
The Department for Culture insisted ministers had not acted "unconstitutionally" but declined to comment further.
The nine-storey Broadcasting House extension, already two years behind schedule and £20 million over budget, will house 4,500 staff, 36 radio studios, six TV studios, two control rooms and 60 editing suites. It will also include the world's largest newsroom, a 43,000 square foot open-plan office the size of half a football pitch.
Reader views (12)
Paul of Bromley. First class? What are you talking about! Third rate left wing biased rubbish more like. If al-beeb is so great let them compete on equal terms and prove it. Scrap the License fee and pay their own way.
- Rusty Shackleford, UK, 16/12/2008 08:46
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A world class broadcasting corporation needs world class premises, equipment and incentives to get the best staff.
What do people suggest..? A couple of portakabins? If Britain wants to remain at the forefront of quality news and programming, this is a must.
I'm proud of the BBC and it's jounalists have a global currency that carries weight in every corner of the world.
Ok, they make mistakes, let's not cut off our noses.
P x
- Paul, Bromley, Kent, 15/12/2008 18:34
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It could make the Maison De Radio France in Paris look like someone's garden shed!
- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk., 15/12/2008 17:53
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Well, this incredible revelation hasn't appeared on BBC news yet.
Why not, as I've been tuned into Five Live [so called]News and Sport Channel all day?
- Dave, cumbria, 15/12/2008 16:38
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Deals of this sort being funded by the Government may be defensible, assuming acceptable priorities are observed. I suspect I would rather see the money used for hospitals or schools or equipment for our armed forces. The fact that this was done in secret only serves to confirm my long held suspicion that the BBC is in the pocket of New Labour. The licence fee should be scrapped not preserved in a crony-like way. Let the BBC earn its living like commercial broadcasters.
- James Elliott, Eastbourne UK, 15/12/2008 15:26
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I think it is about time that the BBC was open and honest and let the UK populace know that they are solely paying for the BBC. This thing should be renamed BBC licence NOT TV licence!
- Joan Edwards, london england, 15/12/2008 15:22
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Good for the BBC. If people are able to spend a good deal of money on Sky Television they can do the same for public service broadcasting. Ignore the anti licence brigade!
- Arthur Lincoln, London (UK), 15/12/2008 15:04
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Once again, the real point is being missed both by the article and the other comments. The BBC building a new HQ? No problem. Funded by the government? Again no problem, this kind of capital investment is exactly the kind of thing that governments ought to be doing. But SECRET DEAL? No! No! No! We're taxpayers and voters; we fund and elect the government, it's accountable to us and it's there to do our bidding. Every penny it spends ought therefore to be public knowledge. There is absolutely no place for secret deals.
- John, Bedford, 15/12/2008 13:56
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C'mon: more detailed reporting. Tell us how much the BBC earned last year from
- phone-ins
- spin-off merchandise like children's toys
- publishing programme-based magazines
- selling DVDS
- flogging programmes globally to other networks
I don't think I've ever see it neatly written down in a list: can anyone help?
- Roz, Chamonix, France, 15/12/2008 12:42
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TV licence tax is funding a building program, Our money should not be used in this way. The licence fee needs to ba abolished now.
- Maggie, London, 15/12/2008 12:15
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disgusting - yet another bloated, out dated public funded body urinating our money away.
- Stuart, london, 15/12/2008 11:58
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That is the arrogance that belies the minority-centric, politically-correct BBC.
£20 million over budget? Cut one well known chat show host called Ross and there's most of it covered.
- Frank, Home Counties, England, 15/12/2008 11:40
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