Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy spoke about the BBC licence fee (Image: Parliament TV)
The BBC lost 300,000 licence fee payers in the last 12 months, an MP told the Commons as the corporation came under pressure, announcing major job cuts. At Culture, Media and Sport, a Tory MP branded the BBC’s financial model ‘clearly unsustainable’.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is overseeing a comprehensive review of the BBC’s funding and governance to ensure the broadcaster remains financially sustainable and independent for decades. Her review, launched in late 2025 as part of the Charter renewal process, focuses on modernising how the BBC is funded as viewing habits change.
Conservative Nigel Huddleston said: “Last year the BBC lost another 300,000 licence fee payers. The BBC’s current scale and financial model is clearly unsustainable. Yesterday the BBC announced controversial cuts, including “The World Tonight” and “Money Box Live”, without anyone in Parliament expressing a view. That is not right.
“The Government appear to be restricting parliamentary debate about the future of the BBC. They announced the BBC charter via written statement, not a debate. They have already ruled out some alternative funding models and consideration of the size, scope and scale of the BBC’s operations, leaving the BBC to take action unilaterally. Will the Secretary of State reconsider the scope of the charter review, and ensure that Parliament has a proper say on the future of the BBC?”
Ms Nandy said she had ‘concerns’ and added: “I will try to reassure the hon. Member on that, because we have no intention of restricting debate on the future of the BBC. I share some of his concerns about the way in which the BBC made the recent announcement. One of the things that I was keen to ensure was that decisions that could affect the future of the BBC, and the services on which we all rely, were made by the new director general and not in the interim, in the absence of a permanent director general. The charter process sets out a clear role for Parliament, which this Government will respect and uphold. There will be adequate opportunity to debate the proposals that the Government put forward with the White Paper on the future of the BBC later this year.”
The corporation intends to decommission TV programmes and axe radio shows, amid plans to reduce spending on commissioning by £80 million in the 2027 to 2028 financial year. In an internal note sent to staff, seen by the Press Association, chief content officer Kate Phillips said she estimates around 100 jobs will be cut from the BBC content division by the end of the financial year.
It follows director general Matt Brittin’s announcement that 550 of the planned 1,800 to 2,000 job cuts at the corporation will be taken from BBC News and TV and radio-related roles. In the Commons on Thursday, shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston argued the current scale and financial model of the BBC “is clearly unsustainable”.
“Yesterday the BBC announced controversial cuts, including the World Tonight and Moneybox Live, without anyone in Parliament expressing a view, that is not right,” he added. Responding, Ms Nandy said: “I share some of the concerns that he has about the way in which this recent announcement was made by the BBC.
“And particularly one of the things that I was keen to ensure is that decisions were made by the new director general, not made in the interim, in the absence of a permanent director general that could affect the future of the BBC and the services that we all rely on.”
The corporation previously announced plans to axe Radio 4’s The World Tonight programme, which first aired in 1970, and replace it with a news bulletin and a simulcast of the World Service programme Newshour from next April.
Other Radio 4 shows to close include the Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents – while the presenters on BBC Radio 4’s Today show will be reduced from five to four.
BBC One’s Breakfast will also be impacted by the cuts and will no longer be shown on Sunday mornings from September, and will instead be replaced by the BBC News Channel – which will shift towards an international focus in the hopes of broadening its audience outside the UK.
The production teams making Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge and 5 Live Weekend Breakfast will become a two-hour-long programme from April.
Other plans include TV production at weekends being shared across the News Channel and BBC One bulletins, as well as a proposed review of broadcast TV channels and the radio network portfolio as audiences move online.
The corporation will also review its chief news presenter roles, while 100 to 150 hours of originated programmes across all commissioning genres will be reduced by the end of the 2027 to 2028 financial year.
John Slinger, Labour MP for Rugby, suggested the BBC should be “looking at the vast salaries they pay to their stars, both in entertainment and in news, in order to retain programmes like The World Tonight”.
Responding, Ms Nandy said the BBC “remains the most trusted source of news in this country and one of the most trusted sources of news across the world”.
She added: “I do want to recognise that the BBC has had some serious challenges to deal with, and has had to make some difficult decisions, but this Government is determined to support their efforts by ensuring that the BBC is adequately funded.”