Weather Tonight: 4°c Partly Cloudy Night Morning: 8°c Cloudy

News

BBC's secret licence fee deal to fund £800m HQ

Felix Allen
15 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)

 Add your view

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

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
Report abuse

disgusting - yet another bloated, out dated public funded body urinating our money away.

- Stuart, london, 15/12/2008 11:58
Report abuse

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
Report abuse


Add your comment

 

Terms and conditions Make text area bigger You have  characters left.

We welcome your opinions. This is a public forum. Libellous and abusive comments are not allowed. Please read our House Rules.

For information about privacy and cookies please read our Privacy Policy.


 

 

  • MPs spend £400,000 of taxpayers' cash on 12 fig trees for their offices Fig Trees EXCLUSIVE: Taxpayers are footing a bill of almost £400,000 to rent 12 fig trees to shade MPs in the glass-roofed atrium of their...
  • 10 million Tube passengers fail to claim money back for delays Tube train More than 10 million Tube users are missing out on refunds worth more than £20 million when their trains are delayed
  • The final reckoning: how Boris and Ken measure up in election battle Ken Boris split London goes to the polls on May 3 with the election battle between Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone set to be the capital's closest mayoral...
  • Commuters' favourite swaps busking for the big time with recording deal Tristan Mackay Busker Tristan Mackay has hit the jackpot after landing a record deal with an award-winning producer
  • What a smoothie! Eight-year-old Valentine gives Kate roses and a heart-shaped cupcake Kate Smoothie The Duchess of Cambridge's first Valentine's Day as a married woman was marked with roses, a card and a cupcake - but not from Prince...
  • Kercher family launch appeal over decision to clear Knox of murder Meredith Kercher Meredith Kercher's family today launched an appeal to overturn the decision to clear Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito of her murder
  • PM urged to deport Qatada as he hides in north London safe house Abu Qatada David Cameron was under pressure today to defy European judges by ordering the deportation of extremist cleric Abu Qatada as he holed up in...
  • Now jailed Dizaei could be forced to repay his £1million legal aid bill Ali Dizaei Met commander Ali Dizaei is facing the prospect of paying back tens of thousand of pounds of legal aid as Scotland Yard prepared to sack him...
  • Osborne defends his cuts strategy as inflation falls George Osborne Chancellor George Osborne defended his economic strategy as a fall in inflation finally brought mild relief to some from the tight squeeze...
  • Royal College students to receive scholarships courtesy of Burberry Rosie Huntington-Whitely At the luxury brand Burberry, Christopher Bailey has transformed a designer classic into must-have cool, as epitomised by the models Rosie...
  •  

    Don't Miss