Increase to £157.50 has extra potency as over-75s must start paying fee from this summer

The cost of a TV licence will increase from £154.50 to £157.50 in April, the BBC has said, as ministers consider whether to decriminalise non-payment of the fee as part of a broader attack on the corporation.

The BBC’s licence fee deal includes annual price rises in line with inflation, meaning the £3 price rise had been expected. But confirmation of the increase has extra potency this year, as most over-75s will have to start paying for their licence fees from this summer onwards.

The culture secretary, Nicky Morgan, will give a speech on Wednesday on the future of media and broadcasting, in which she is expected to launch a consultation on whether to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee.

Compliance with the fee is currently enforced through the criminal court system. The last time the government looked at turning non-payment into a civil matter – similar to non-payment of an electricity bill, enforced by bailiffs – it concluded that the change would cost the BBC hundreds of millions of pounds.

The corporation is already facing an editorial boycott from the government, with ministers refusing to appear on leading shows such as Radio 4’s Today programme, in protest at the corporation’s news coverage during the general election.

Spending plans agreed in 2015 are only just making themselves felt in the form of cuts to the BBC’s news output announced last week, and any further reduction in spending would be likely to harm the corporation even further.

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The number of active television licences in the UK fell slightly last year for the first time in decades, suggesting a small number of households could be choosing to stop paying.

The BBC emphasises that although the £13.13 monthly cost is more than the price of commercial services such as Netflix, it provides a wider range of public service universal services including nine national TV channels; 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, plus the BBC website.

Despite this, there are growing calls for reform of the system, including from some of the BBC’s highest-profile presenters. Last week Gary Lineker told the Guardian he backed decriminalisation. The Match of the Day presenter is paid £1.75m a year by the corporation – the equivalent of 7p a year from every household that pays the licence fee.