TV viewers could be hit by new 'Netflix tax' as Lisa Nandy considers making fans of streaming services pay the £180-a-year licence fee

Television viewers could face a new 'Netflix tax' under Government plans to extend the £180-a-year BBC licence fee to streaming services.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is reportedly considering whether to boost the corporation's funding in a new blueprint to be published before Christmas.

That could mean that people tuning into streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and YouTube would have to pay extra.

Popular shows on Netflix include current top-ranked series Below, a Canadian supernatural drama starring US actor Josh Hartnett. 

The reported proposals come amid a plunge in people paying the licence fee.

It emerged last month that 94 per cent of the UK population access BBC coverage but only 80 per cent have a licence.

The royal charter, which sets out arrangements for governance of the corporation including its funding, is renewed every ten years and the current one ends in December next year.

Possible options include extending the fee to cover streaming services watched by people who avoid tuning into BBC programmes or paying the charge. 

One of Netflix's most popular current series is Below, starring US actor Josh Hartnett (pictured)

A suggested 'Netflix tax' is being considered as an extension of the TV licence fee by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy (pictured arriving for a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street on October 13)

Some of the extra money raised as a result could be allocated to boost local journalism, the Telegraph reported.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin, who took over in May this year, recently said that BBC News should be on streaming sites and social media to justify a new universal levy.

Mr Brittin, former head in Europe of Google, believes the corporation is 'held back' by the fee, which is 'no longer fit for purpose', and has suggested a household levy could be an alternative funding option.

He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'What we need to look at is the current model.

'You pay the licence fee if you watch live TV or you're on iPlayer. I'd like to see reform that allows us to be where audiences are.

'I think BBC content should be on Netflix, on YouTube, on TikTok, on Spotify, and Instagram, and everywhere where audiences are.

'Particularly news, actually, which I think is part of disinfecting misinformation. It's our job to be everywhere.'

The BBC's latest annual report showed that 23.3million licences were bought in the last year – down by 539,000 on the previous 12 months and a plunge of almost 2million compared to five years ago.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin, who took over in May this year, has spoken of the corporation being 'held back' by the licence fee, calling it 'no longer fit for purpose'

Responding to the proposed new extension of the licence fee, a BBC spokesman said: 'We have consistently argued that the current funding model is outdated and needs reform.

'We will continue to engage with government to secure a new charter that provides sustainable, sufficient and universal funding so the BBC can deliver for audiences for generations to come.'

The BBC says licence fee funding has fallen by £1.3 billion, about 25 per cent, over the past decade. 

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: 'As has been made clear in numerous meetings, speeches, visits and interviews over the past year, the Culture Secretary is heavily engaged in the future direction of the BBC.

'She has made this Charter Review a clear priority, with the aim of putting the Corporation on a sustainable financial footing, so that it has the resources it needs to continue to deliver for the country.

'Next steps for BBC Charter Renewal and funding will be set out in a white paper which will be published in due course.'

Ms Nandy has previously described the BBC as 'an institution that matters deeply to the democratic process in this country and to the health of our nation'.

The minister, who has had a series of meetings with Mr Brittin since his appointment, also said the corporation 'has to have sustainable funding in order to thrive'.

The BBC's veteran world affairs editor John Simpson last week said the corporation was going through 'the worst crisis in its history'.

The 82-year-old, who has been with the BBC for six decades, predicted it would no longer exist unless funding was sorted out – and he branded viewers who do not pay the licence fee 'shoplifters'.

Mr Simpson said the BBC 'constitutes the essence of what it is to be British' and is 'respected across the world'.

But he added: 'I do think this is the worst position the BBC has ever been in.

'I think there is a real possibility we're going to lose it as it is unless the Government and the BBC together can come up with a decent way of funding it.

'I think the licence fee has had it. If people can decide they simply don't want to pay, we've had it, we're finished.'

Speaking to the Radio Times, he added: 'Don't tell me these people [who have stopped paying their licence fee] don't watch the BBC. Of course they do. For me, that's just like shoplifting.'