But what exactly is the licence fee - and who needs one?

How much is the licence fee and what is it for?

Today, the TV licence costs £154.50 a year (£52 for black and white TV sets) and will rise by £3 in April.

The licence fee's existence is guaranteed until at least 31 December 2027 by the BBC's Royal Charter. This sets out the BBC's funding and purpose.

The BBC provides public service broadcasting - which means its mission is "to act in the public interest" by providing "impartial, high-quality and distinctive" content, which "inform, educate and entertain" all audiences.

Money raised from the licence fee pays for BBC shows and services - including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps. Almost £3.7bn was raised by the licence fee in 2019, accounting for about 76% of the BBC's total income of £4.9bn.

The remaining 25% (or £1.2bn) came from commercial and other activities (such as grants, royalties and rental income), according to the House of Commons Library.

What happens if people don't pay the licence fee?

Watching live programmes without a TV licence fee is against the law.

In 2018, more than 121,000 people were convicted for evasion, with five of them going to prison. The average fine was £176, but the maximum penalty is £1,000, plus legal costs and/or compensation.

Last year, there were about 26.2 million TV licences in use in the UK. About 7% of people who need a licence do not have one.

The government is now considering decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee by 2022. Announcing the consultation, Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan said it was time to think about keeping the fee "relevant" in a "changing media landscape".

It is not just the government that has questioned the licence fee. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, whose annual BBC salary is £1.75m, suggested it should become a voluntary payment.

Lord Hall, who is stepping down as the BBC's director general, defended the charge, saying the corporation's success lies in it "being paid for and owned by the British public".

Decriminalisation would not mean that having a licence is voluntary, but failing to pay could become a civil offence, similar to non-payment of council tax or electricity bills.

Do I have to pay for a TV licence?

The law says that you must have a TV licence if you:

watch or record live TV programmes on any channel, even if it's not on the BBC
watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV and Sky Go
download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer
The rules apply to any device on which a programme is viewed, including a TV, desktop or laptop computer, mobile phone, tablet or set-top box.

So, for example, someone watching a live football match on a non-BBC channel via a laptop, would still need a TV licence.

But a licence fee is not needed to view BBC programmes on other streaming services, like Netflix.

So, downloading Gavin & Stacey on Netflix would not require a TV licence, whereas downloading the same episode on iPlayer would.

It is also fine to watch non-BBC programmes on online catch-up services without a TV licence, as well as viewing clips on sites like YouTube, according to the government website.

There are different rules for people like students away at university, tenants and lodgers, blind people and businesses.