The use of a licence fee to fund the BBC should be a matter for debate, according to culture secretary Ben Bradshaw.

A significant shortfall in the licence fee settlement has left the corporation considering major cuts, including redundancies and the axing of some of its output , with the future of 6Music and the Asian Network reportedly in jeopardy.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Bradshaw declined to comment on the cuts but said the licence fee should be a subject for discussion.

"I think there is a good reason to have a debate in the run-up to the next licence fee, which we shall have if we are in government, as to how big the BBC should be, how big the licence fee should be, even if we should continue to have a licence fee in the long-term as the best funding mechanism," he said.

"The BBC is free at any time to say 'Look we don't need all the money we have got, have some back'.

"But it is very, very important that political parties in between the years when the licence fee is set don't give a running commentary like that because that would be a very serious breach of the BBC's independence."

The culture secretary said he had never listened to 6Music but said the BBC should be left to decide the station's future.
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