People with TV licence can cut bill to just £26 before hike next week

The BBC TV licence fee is set to rise by 6.6 per cent in days. The BBC TV licence fee is set to increase by £10.50 after a two-year freeze - but BBC TV licence fee customers can knock it down to zero and £0 before the hike next week.

People who are blind (severely sight impaired), or live with someone who is blind, could be entitled to a blind concession TV licence. This reduces the price by 50 per cent. This means the annual fee will drop from £159 to £79.50 for a colour TV licence and £26.75 for a black and white TV licence.

After the TV licence fee rises, it will reduce the price to around £84.75 for a colour TV. People can get a free TV Licence if they, as the licence holder, are 75 years or older and they, or their partner living at the same address, receive Pension Credit.

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Pople who are 75 or over and live in a residential care home may be covered by an ARC (Accommodation for Residential Care) TV Licence and also won’t have to pay the fee - even if they don’t receive Pension Credit.

Lucy Frazer said she was concerned a "significant rise" in the fee would add to cost of living pressures. Asked by BBC Breakfast whether the government was looking at whether £15 would be too much of an increase, Ms Frazer replied: "Absolutely. I think that is quite a significant rise, so that is exactly what we are looking at."

She added: "We froze the licence fee for two years to help households with their daily payments. That freeze has come to an end and the licence fee is due to rise with inflation but we're looking at ways to make sure that is sustainable for families across the country."

Ms Frazer also said she was also looking at how "we fund the BBC going forward". "It's unsustainable because 400,000 people did not renew their licence fee over the last year. The media landscape is changing. We're not consuming the BBC like we used to consume it, so I'm also looking at a broader review," she said.