The BBC could face a major licence fee overhaul under a “fundamental” review into the broadcaster.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is said to be planning to launch her consultation on the BBC’s royal charter before Christmas.

She will reportedly look into a wholesale reform of the contentious licence fee under a “comprehensive look at the way the BBC operates”.

The corporation’s charter renewal, carried out once every 10 years, is expected to focus on providing a “sustainable” funding model and restoring public trust in BBC news content.

However, sources have stressed to The Telegraph that the push for trust is unrelated to the damning bias row which has rocked the BBC, and led to the resignations of two of its highest-ranking figures.

Over the last week, the newspaper had published details of an internal memo which had found that the BBC doctored footage of Donald Trump to make it sound like he was inciting his followers to riot.

Mr Trump is now suing the broadcaster for $1billion, and has heaped praise on The Telegraph for “exposing corrupt ‘journalists'”.

His White House, meanwhile, has twice urged the public to watch GB News instead.

Labour’s rumoured review could include issues of governance and would be “more fundamental than individuals”.

It is set to look into a part-subscription, part-licence fee model to diversify the corporation’s income – as Britons turn away from the mandatory payments.

As revenues have fallen and prices have increased, licence fee evasion has more than doubled in the past four years alone – from 6.95 per cent in 2019-20 to 11.3 per cent in 2023-24.

BBC chairman Samir Shah, who on Monday claimed there was no evidence of “systemic bias or institutional bias” at the broadcaster, has previously hinted that wealthier households could be told to pay more for their TV licence.

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But from next April, every Briton will be asked to cough up more. The fee is expected to rise from £174.50 to about £181, based on September’s inflation rate of 3.8 per cent.

Former Culture Secretary Sir John Whittingdale – who oversaw the most recent charter renewal in 2016 – admitted the licence fee was not sustainable in the long term.

“It is now the reality that each year a number of people stop paying, because they decide they no longer need the BBC because they are accessing all the services they want through streaming services,” he said.

“There is a risk of a tipping point where the steady trickle of people saying they’re not going to pay becomes a flood. We are not there yet, but it is in sight.”

The Government will first release a green paper on the new charter, then a white paper setting out the Culture Secretary’s plans for the next 10 years of the BBC.

Ms Nandy has revealed she hopes to be “radical” with the licence fee in the past, and has refused to rule out a full subscription model.

Downing Street’s line, meanwhile, is: “We’re preparing for the upcoming charter review, which we expect to launch in due course, and will consider a range of issues including how the BBC can continue to prosper, supported by sustainable funding.”