91Èȱ¬

The TV licence fee, which funds the 91Èȱ¬, is to be frozen for six years at £145.50, the chancellor has confirmed.

The 91Èȱ¬ will also take over the cost of the Foreign Office-funded World Service, 91Èȱ¬ Monitoring and some of the costs of Welsh language TV channel S4C.

All the changes mean a 16% real terms cut in 91Èȱ¬ funds over six years.

91Èȱ¬ director general Mark Thompson said it was "a realistic deal", but the National Union of Journalists said the 91Èȱ¬ should have fought the plans.

George Osborne told the Commons that changes in funding amounted to "£340m of savings a year for the Exchequer by 2014-15".

"To ensure that the cost of these new obligations is not passed on to the licence fee payer, the 91Èȱ¬ has agreed a funding deal for the full duration of its charter review," he said.

The arrangement was to freeze the licence fee for the next six years, he added.

"This deal helps almost every family and is equivalent to a 16% saving in the 91Èȱ¬ budget over the period, similar to the savings in other major cultural institutions."

As part of the deal, the 91Èȱ¬ says it will now part-fund S4C "along similar principles to the 91Èȱ¬ Alba service in Scotland".

91Èȱ¬ Alba - the Scottish Gaelic language service - is funded by the corporation in partnership with the Scottish government.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) currently funds S4C to the tune of just under £100m a year.

The government also funds the World Service and picks up part of the cost of 91Èȱ¬ Monitoring, which monitors, translates and analyses media coverage from around the world.

Mr Thompson said: "This is a realistic deal, in exceptional circumstances, securing a strong independent 91Èȱ¬ for the next six years.

"It means that efficiency and reform will continue to be key issues for us. But our focus remains providing distinctive, high quality programmes valued by the public. This deal will safeguard that until 2017."

91Èȱ¬ Trust chairman Michael Lyons said: "The 91Èȱ¬ is not government funded, but these are pressing times for the nation as a whole and we believe licence fee payers would expect us to see what contribution we can properly make."

The 91Èȱ¬'s extra responsibilities were "consistent with this and will deliver benefits to licence fee payers across the UK", he added.

"Sorting out DCMS's budget settlement was an extraordinarily gruelling process, all the more so because we ended up negotiating the 91Èȱ¬'s next licence fee settlement as part of it.

"In the end the deal we got was tough but fair. Tough because the 91Èȱ¬, like everyone, is going to have to make demanding efficiency savings.

"But fair because it allows them to continue to make the great programmes that we all love, and licence fee payers won't have to pay any extra for the privilege."

In an e-mail to its members at the 91Èȱ¬, the National Union of Journalists said the deal was "a watershed moment" for the corporation.

"It is our view that the 91Èȱ¬ should have fought these plans, and rallied its supporters, rather than accept such a devastating deal which could lead to thousands of job losses and the wholesale closure of services," it said.

The deal appeared to have been "struck at the 11th hour with no consultation with listeners, viewers or staff", it added.

Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of broadcasting union Bectu, accused the 91Èȱ¬ of "doing the government's dirty work".

"How can you cut 16% off your costs without affecting jobs or services?" he said.

"Morale at the 91Èȱ¬ is already at rock bottom, but now there is little or no confidence in the management."

Meanwhile, shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has warned that "jettisoning" the World Service from the Foreign Office "at this late stage, without serious consultation or a strategy for its future, is cavalier and short-termist".

"Although editorially independent, the World Service is a key component of UK diplomacy and does important work promoting British values and open debate across the world," she said.

It has also been announced that money the 91Èȱ¬ had ringfenced to pay for the switchover to digital TV - about £150m a year - will now contribute to the broadband rollout.

The 91Èȱ¬ Trust earlier warned the government it would fight any plans to force the corporation to meet the cost of free television licences for the over-75s.