Speeches by Smith.

“Interesting. Is there anything else you think the BBC could be doing, on top of its current broadcasting activities, other than the two examples you have mentioned?”

“As you will have seen, the Government have ruled out a number of funding options in the Green Paper. We are still trying to tease out the pros and cons of them all. There are a couple of other options in respect of which you could help us to tease out the pros and cons. First, what are your views on the pros and cons o…”

“That is helpful. It sounds like it needs a fairly high degree of consensus from the 16 regional authorities. Can they block it?”

“What can we learn from the process that Germany used to transition from a licence fee to the household levy? We heard in the last panel that the process took 12 years. Presumably there was consensus across the political environment to do that. What can we learn from that? If the Government wanted to move at some point …”

“Do you think it was left out because the Government think it is politically difficult to introduce? I suppose it is not your—”

“Maybe we should be asking somebody else that question, in due course.”

“Any of those things—all of the above.”

“We would like to explore the German model in a little more detail, if that is all right. Justin, can you explain how the household levy works in practice in Germany, including who is required to pay it, how it is collected and how it is distributed?”

“In terms of how it is collected, what is the mechanism and, more importantly, what is the level of evasion? Has that changed since the system was introduced?”

“I also understand that the German system allows adverts on top of the levy. What is the rationale for that? Is it because adverts are needed to supplement the income?”

“That takes us neatly on to Damian’s question.”

“I think you have identified that the problem is probably funding. I would imagine that setting up something to rival a large search engine would cost billions, although I do not know.”

“That is really interesting. Am I not right in saying that one of the BBC’s public purposes has been to innovate? What is stopping the BBC doing a public service search engine or social media platform?”

“Do you think it was left out because the Government think it is politically difficult to introduce? I suppose it is not your—”

“Maybe we should be asking somebody else that question, in due course.”

“As you will have seen, the Government have ruled out a number of funding options in the Green Paper. We are still trying to tease out the pros and cons of them all. There are a couple of other options in respect of which you could help us to tease out the pros and cons. First, what are your views on the pros and cons o…”

“I should have declared an interest, as I am supposed to every week, as the chair of the all-party group on the BBC. Secondly, we have had a number of contributions, over a period of time, about whether, as a potential funding option, a levy on streamers and other platforms could provide significant income for the BBC. …”

“On the detail of that, would you say, “You have to pay the licence fee if you have a TV or a broadband feed”? How would it work?”

“Yes, or if you have a smartphone—whatever.”

“I should have declared an interest, as I am supposed to every week, as the chair of the all-party group on the BBC. Secondly, we have had a number of contributions, over a period of time, about whether, as a potential funding option, a levy on streamers and other platforms could provide significant income for the BBC. …”