An MP says he is “delighted” to take on his new role as a Minister following Boris Johnson’s Cabinet reshuffle.

Maldon MP John Whittingdale accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation to return to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport last week.

He will serve under new Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, who replaced Baroness Morgan.

The department is reportedly set to take another look at BBC funding.

Claims were made on Sunday that No 10 wants to scrap the licence fee in favour of a subscription service.

The Sunday Times quoted a source as saying the broadcaster could be forced to sell off most of its radio stations in a “massive pruning back” of its services.

But Mr Whittingdale - who was Culture Secretary from 2015-16 - rebutted these claims on Monday evening.

He said: “I was delighted to accept the Prime Minister’s invitation to re-join the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as Minister of State responsible for Media and Data.

“Having served as chairman of the Select Committee for ten years and then as Secretary of State, I have been involved in policy in this area for a large part of my career in politics and welcome the opportunity to take on a role in government once again.

“I have always believed that the BBC is one of our best-loved and most admired public institutions and I am convinced that there is still a need for a strong public service broadcaster.

“The BBC Charter, which I agreed with the BBC when I was last in Government, remains in place until 2027.

“However, even in the short time since then, the broadcasting landscape has changed hugely, with streaming services like Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Disney becoming widely available.

“The traditional public service broadcasters will need to adapt to this new world, and I look forward to discussing how best they can do this with the BBC and others.”

Mr Whittingdale says although a new model of payment could be looked at, a subscription model is not yet feasible.

He added: “There might one day come a time when alternative methods of finance become possible, but this could only be considered once every household has access to broadband without which a subscription model simply cannot work.”