The shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, today ruled out ripping up the BBC's royal charter and licence fee agreement, saying this could threaten the corporation's impartiality and ability to hold politicians to account.

In an apparent u-turn on earlier comments by Hunt and his Conservative colleagues about their plans for the BBC should the party win next year's general election, he said a future Tory government would not impose a freeze on the licence fee before it is due to be reviewed in 2012.

He said it was important the BBC should not operate under the threat of its funding level being reviewed on a year-by-year basis, which he said would threaten its impartiality and ability to hold politicians to account.

"We will respect the principle of multi-year [funding] settlements," Hunt told a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London. "That's not to say when there has been a sudden deterioration in the economy the BBC should not do the decent thing and waive the rise in the licence fee."

Earlier this year Labour and Lib Dem MPs voted against a Tory motion in the House of Commons to reject this year's £3 annual increase in the licence fee, freezing the charge at £139.50.

Hunt said he still thought it was wrong that the BBC should get an inflationary rise in the licence fee at a time when there was no inflation.

Asked what sort of funding settlement the BBC could expect under a Tory government in 2012, Hunt said: "It would be wrong for an opposition party to go into any sort of detail. I haven't had any representations from the BBC or any discussions about what level the next licence fee should be.

"All we have said is that in the current climate we think it would be very difficult to ask for an increase in the licence fee. The reason for that is partly the economic situation… and partly there is a growing imbalance between the income going into the commercial sector and the BBC."

Hunt said the Conservative party still had "serious reservations" about the BBC's governance and regulatory body, the BBC Trust, but added he had "no plans to tear up the BBC charter".

The shadow culture secretary had said in an interview last month that he was "looking into whether it would be appropriate to rip up the charter in the middle of it or whether one should wait".

The BBC's current royal charter, the 10-year agreement with the government that sets out the corporation's public service remit and the scope of its activities, is not due to expire until the end of 2016.

"We have no plans to tear up the BBC charter. We do have some serious reservations about the way the BBC Trust operates. We did look at the BBC charter but we concluded we can achieve some of the things we want to achieve under the existing charter structure. Others will have to wait until it comes up for renewal. We have no plans to touch the BBC's charter," he said.

He said the BBC Trust, which replaced the board of governors in 2007, had not worked because of confusion over its regulatory role and as the corporation's sovereign body.

"If fails from the BBC's point of view. If you are running an organisation of 23,000 people you need a board that you can turn to for advice when you go through a difficult patch," Hunt added.

"I think [BBC director general Mark Thompson] would find his job a lot easier if he had a non-executive chair that was on his side. That [change] could be done without a change in the BBC's charter."

Thompson, speaking at the VLV conference earlier today, said the BBC would look at cutting back its spending on its internet and digital services after digital switchover in 2012.

Hunt said he had never called for digital channels such as BBC3 and BBC4 to be axed. "All I said is where you have a digital channel that has got a very small audience then the BBC needs to make a better case than it has done for those channels," he added.

"I have specifically not said we would close BBC3 or BBC4 for the reason I don't think it's for politicians to tell the BBC what channels to broadcast or programmes to show. Those channels cost around £100m each to broadcast – that's very expensive. The BBC needs to make a case for them."

Hunt said the Conservatives also had no plans to relax impartiality requirements for news channels such as Sky News.

And he again rubbished suggestions of a contract between the Tories and News International. "There is absolutely no question of News International dictating our media policy. David Cameron wrote an article in the Sun a year ago defending the principle of the licence fee," he added.

"That's not something you do if you are trying to suck up to the Murdochs. We determine our media policy on what is best for the public."

Hunt also backtracked on his suggestion that BBC News should "actively look for some Conservatives to be part of their newsgathering team" to counter an "innate liberal bias".

Hunt said today: "I made a flippant comment which I'm sure will be carved on my epitaph. I don't think the BBC should employ anyone based on their party political affiliation."

By John Plunkett

Source:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/26/jeremy-hunt-bbc-licence-fee