Sir Michael Lyons on BBC's 'hard settlement' on fee freeze

The TV licence fee, which funds the BBC, is to be frozen for six years at £145.50, the chancellor has confirmed.

The BBC will also take over the cost of the Foreign Office-funded World Service, BBC Monitoring and some of the costs of Welsh language TV channel S4C.

All the changes mean a 16% real terms cut in BBC funds over six years.

The chair of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, says the outcome is a "hard settlement" but "a fair arrangement".

"I don't think the BBC could ask to be completely insulated from the challenges that are faced by the whole national economy," he added.