The BBC is considering a major change to its TV licence fee, which could see more Brits paying for the service. The BBC suggested it may be happy to reduce the telly tax on one condition: that more people pay, in a 100-page response to the Government’s Charter Review, which assessed the organisation’s future.

It currently costs Brits £174.50 per year to watch the public broadcaster; however, the fee is set to rise once again in April to £180. The growing cost has come under scrutiny from the public, Reform UK and the Tories. In response to the Government’s Green Paper, which invited the public to share views on more households being required to pay, the BBC said: “We welcome this kind of radical thinking.”

It added: “The licence fee has been frozen for periods, but no government has ever taken the decision to reduce the price. A price cut to support cost of living and affordability is not sustainable under the status quo, however, in combination with other changes to protect universal funding, it could be a bold move to support the BBC’s long-term sustainability.”

It said that “obviously” the level at which the fee can be reduced depends on a number of factors, including what kind of BBC the UK wants.

“We welcome further discussions about the ways this might be achieved alongside sustainable funding,” it added.

Political leaders have previously been vocal critics of the telly tax, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage saying it “cannot survive” and was “wholly unsustainable”.

He argued that the corporation should focus on news and should be forced to compete for subscriptions in sports and entertainment.

Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch warned that “if it wants to justify the licence fee, the BBC needs to reflect a broad spectrum of views in Britain”.

The BBC is trying to claw back funds after its revenue stream from the licence fee has drastically declined over the last few years.

The licence provides over 85% of funding, but the BBC said its income from the tax has fallen by 24% since the start of this Charter, which it claimed equates to around £1.2billion less in real terms since 2016/17.

The BBC’s response also explored ways to enforce payment. It said that 94% of adults use the BBC per month, yet fewer than 80% of households now contribute, down from over 90% in 2016/17.

The BBC was previously believed to be exploring ways to use iPlayer to find households that have not paid for a TV licence.

This paper may fuel speculation further, by stating it was “worth exploring” whether there are solutions to use technology through IP-delivered services to collect the fee.

“Options could include data-matching, pop up warnings around the need for a licence (as seen on iPlayer) right through to harder verification tools to block licensable content to non-licence holders,” it said.

“We note that by itself iPlayer verification would only have a very marginal impact on enforcement.”