Liverpool City Council has recommended the BBC World Service be moved to Liverpool.[1]
At little cost to London this would:
- raise Liverpool’s profile in the world;
- support Liverpool’s existing language skills base; and
- support BBC Merseyside through shared resources.
BBC World Service is the world’s leading international broadcaster[2].
It currently employs over 2000 people[3, p20], broadcasts in 28 languages[2], and has a weekly audience of 166 million[3, p49].
Moving the World Service here could be a big boost for Liverpool.Cllr Sarah Jennings said:
“BBC licence fee revenue represents a significant contribution from residents in Liverpool and it is a tax which bears heavily on people with low incomes or who are unemployed. it is fair to ask the BBC to do more to sustain employment in Liverpool and Merseyside by relocating jobs here.”
It is unfair to charge a regressive tax on the people of Liverpool while cutting services. It is Green Party policy to scrap this unfair tax.[4]
Cllr John Coyne said: “BBC has defended the licence fee, a regressive taxation, claiming it ensures impartiality. Yet currently BBC World Service is paid for out of general taxation with no doubts about its impartiality. The BBC should be paid for from general taxation.”
Currently BBC Merseyside is facing cuts due a change in the World Service’s funding arrangements. By 2014 the World Service will cease to be paid for through general taxation and will be supported by the regressive licence fee.[2]
Notes:
[1]: Agenda for City Council Meeting 9/Nov/2011
http://councillors.liverpool.
[2]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
[3]: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/
[4]: http://policy.greenparty.org.
CMS641 The primary public service broadcaster will remain the BBC (and S4C in Wales) funded wholly by public money from a tax which may be ring-fenced (hypothecated) for public service broadcast use. The operation of this tax should not be regressive. The existing licence fee will be abolished and in the first instance replaced by a guaranteed inflation linked payment from general taxation.
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