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1547351

registered interest
date	01/12/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many pensioners have been prosecuted for non-payment of the TV Licence fee in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Ashfield
tabling member printed	Lee Anderson
uin	101060
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2022 answer text <p>The requirement to hold, and pay for, a TV Licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for the non-payment of TV licence fees annually as part of their criminal justice statistics quarterly publications, which can be viewed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly</a></p><p>Figures for each year since 2005 up to 2022 are available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, and can be found in the following dataset:</p><ul><li><p>2018-2022: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118314/outcomes-by-offence-june-2022.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118314/outcomes-by-offence-june-2022.xlsx</a></p></li></ul><p>To view the relevant figures in these tables, select ‘191A Television licence evasion’ in the Offence filter. These figures can be refined further by age to identify an age range of 70+, it is impossible to provide the data for 'pensioners' as that is a diverse group that cannot be filtered purely by age.</p><p>The data for individuals aged 70+ are the following:</p><ul><li><p>​2022 - 260 proceeded against &amp; 217 sentenced</p></li><li><p>2021 - 238 proceeded against &amp; 207 sentenced</p></li><li><p><del class="ministerial">2022</del> <ins class="ministerial">2020 </ins>- 329 proceeded against &amp; 288 sentenced</p></li></ul><p>Alternative data does also show no Over 75s have been prosecuted and that none of the prosecutions have resulted in custodial sentences.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 07/12/2022 16:17:04 question first ministerially corrected 15/12/2022 09:17:36 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez previous answer version 40369 answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4743 label Biography information for Lee Anderson

1536827

registered interest
date	27/10/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department collected in TV licensing fines in the last year; and what proportion of that money was from over 75s.
tabling member constituency	Ogmore
tabling member printed	Chris Elmore
uin	73099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2022 answer text <p>The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the government. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations. HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is responsible for collecting and enforcing financial penalties imposed by the courts which includes fines imposed for the non-payment of a TV licence.</p><p>In 2021, 49,126 people were proceeded against by HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service for non-payment of the licence fee, and 44,364 were fined. The BBC has recently confirmed that no enforcement or prosecution action has been taken against over-75s who previously held a free licence and therefore no over-75s have been fined. The Department does not hold data on the amount collected from TV licensing fines and will engage with relevant departments to follow up with this information.</p><p>The Government is independent from the BBC, and any decision to suspend enforcement action by TV Licensing, or assessment of the impact of this decision, would be a matter for the BBC. Given the BBC’s independence it would not be appropriate for the government to seek to intervene in operational decisions on enforcement action. Nonetheless, the government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner, and to treat all vulnerable people with sensitivity in doing so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 72945 73100 question first answered 03/11/2022 11:40:33 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4572 label Biography information for Chris Elmore

1536828

registered interest
date	27/10/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the potential lost revenue in TV licensing fines if non-payment prosecutions were paused during the cost-of-living crisis.
tabling member constituency	Ogmore
tabling member printed	Chris Elmore
uin	73100
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2022 answer text <p>The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the government. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations. HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is responsible for collecting and enforcing financial penalties imposed by the courts which includes fines imposed for the non-payment of a TV licence.</p><p>In 2021, 49,126 people were proceeded against by HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service for non-payment of the licence fee, and 44,364 were fined. The BBC has recently confirmed that no enforcement or prosecution action has been taken against over-75s who previously held a free licence and therefore no over-75s have been fined. The Department does not hold data on the amount collected from TV licensing fines and will engage with relevant departments to follow up with this information.</p><p>The Government is independent from the BBC, and any decision to suspend enforcement action by TV Licensing, or assessment of the impact of this decision, would be a matter for the BBC. Given the BBC’s independence it would not be appropriate for the government to seek to intervene in operational decisions on enforcement action. Nonetheless, the government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner, and to treat all vulnerable people with sensitivity in doing so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 72945 73099 question first answered 03/11/2022 11:40:33 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4572 label Biography information for Chris Elmore

1536931

registered interest
date	27/10/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Television Licences: Non-payment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of preventing TV Licensing from prosecuting people who are unable to pay their TV licences during the period of increased cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	72945
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2022 answer text <p>The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the government. The Government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations. HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service is responsible for collecting and enforcing financial penalties imposed by the courts which includes fines imposed for the non-payment of a TV licence.</p><p>In 2021, 49,126 people were proceeded against by HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service for non-payment of the licence fee, and 44,364 were fined. The BBC has recently confirmed that no enforcement or prosecution action has been taken against over-75s who previously held a free licence and therefore no over-75s have been fined. The Department does not hold data on the amount collected from TV licensing fines and will engage with relevant departments to follow up with this information.</p><p>The Government is independent from the BBC, and any decision to suspend enforcement action by TV Licensing, or assessment of the impact of this decision, would be a matter for the BBC. Given the BBC’s independence it would not be appropriate for the government to seek to intervene in operational decisions on enforcement action. Nonetheless, the government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner, and to treat all vulnerable people with sensitivity in doing so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 73099 73100 question first answered 03/11/2022 11:40:33 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy