Grade stands firm on licence fee

In a barely disguised swipe at those critical of the licence fee, Grade said the BBC was “fundamentally opposed” to any plan to “top slice” the funding method.

“Using the licence fee to solve a theoretical future deficit in public service broadcasting provision is a thoroughly bad idea,” Grade said. “Not good for viewers or listeners.”

Grade added that any plan to reform the licence fee would result in a “threat to the political independence of the BBC and weaken its ability to invest in public service content”.

In a separate criticism of the parliamentary Green Paper for the future of the BBC, Grade said the government had “underestimated” the potential impact of digital technology in the coming years.

Grade said: “Digital radio, digital satellite, HDTV, mobile platforms, pod-casting, on-demand delivery via broadband – these, and no doubt many more technologies as yet unveiled – also have the potential to transform the media landscape and provide new ways to build public value.

“So it is vital that the BBC remains agile, able to respond flexibly, on behalf of licence-fee payers, to the new opportunities that open up and the new ways that licence-fee payers wish to enjoy BBC content.”

By Kevin May

Read Grade's speech in full here