The Government consulted on decriminalisation of TV licence evasion in 2020, and published its response in January 2021. The response to the consultation shows that a significant number of people oppose the criminal sanction with some highlighting the considerable stress and anxiety it can cause for individuals, including the most vulnerable in society, such as older people.<\/p>
However, the consultation also identified that changing the sanction for TV licence evasion would have wide-ranging impacts for licence fee payers, as well as potentially leading to a significant increase in fines for those evading payment.<\/p>
The Government therefore decided to keep the issue of decriminalisation under consideration.<\/p>
More broadly, it is necessary to look at the BBC\u2019s funding model as a whole to ensure it is sustainable in the long-term. The Government will set out further detail on its plans regarding the future of the licence fee in due course.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4647", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Julia Lopez"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hornchurch and Upminster"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Julia Lopez"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-10-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-10-27T14:16:59.897Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-10-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Television Licences: Non-payment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is her policy to decriminalise the non-payment of the TV Licence fee.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4079", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Julian Sturdy"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "York Outer"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Julian Sturdy"} ], "uin" : "69614"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1523393", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1523393/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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>
Parliament approved the BBC assuming the role of the TV Licensing Authority in 1991, and under the Communications Act 2003, the BBC is authorised to collect and enforce the Licence Fee by law on the government's behalf.<\/p>
The TV licence fee was administered under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 until the passage of the 2003 Act.<\/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: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly<\/a><\/p> Figures for each year since 2005 up to 2021 are available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, and can be found in the following tables:<\/p> 2017-2021: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1076459/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2021-v2.xlsx To view the relevant figures in these tables, select \u2018191A Television licence evasion\u2019 in the Offence filter.<\/p> The number of people convicted for TV licence evasion in the years between 1992 and 2004 can be found in the attached tables. Table 1 sets out the number of convictions for television licence evasion in this period under the Communications Act 2003. Table 2 sets out convictions for offences against the Wireless Telegraphy Acts, 1949 to 1967 in the same period. While television licence evasion was an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, the figures in Table 2 may include other offences under the specified Acts.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4647", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Julia Lopez"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hornchurch and Upminster"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Julia Lopez"}
, "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1523393/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "PQ 65608 table final.pdf"}
, "title" : "Table outlining information sources "}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-10-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "true", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1523393/answer/previousversion/26685", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4647", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Julia Lopez"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hornchurch and Upminster"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Julia Lopez"}
}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-10-24T16:37:09.993Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
], "questionFirstMinisteriallyCorrected" : [{"_value" : "2022-10-25T16:09:44.037Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-10-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Television Licences: Non-payment"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people were convicted for not paying their TV license under the provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 since 1992.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/411", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Huddersfield"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Barry Sheerman"}
], "uin" : "65608"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1522951", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1522951/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Ministry of Justice publishes figures on the number of people fined for non-payment of a TV licence, broken down by fine amounts, on an annual basis on the GOV.UK website. These figures were most recently updated in May 2022, in the \u2018Sentencing Outcomes\u2019 worksheet in the Magistrates' court data tool (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 17.1 MB)<\/a> as part of the Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2021 publication. The number of people fined for this offence can be found by filtering for HO Offence Code \u201819101 \u2013 Television licence evasion\u2019 and breaking this down by fine amount. These figures can also be broken down by various demographics such as age and gender. The average fine amount is available on the \u2018Average Amounts\u2019 worksheet.<\/p> The penalty for TV licence evasion is a fine. A person cannot receive a custodial sentence for TV licence evasion but can be committed to prison for wilfully refusing to pay the fine or culpably neglecting to pay. In 2021, there were no admissions into prison associated with failing to pay a fine in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4668", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rachel Maclean"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Redditch"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Rachel Maclean"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-10-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "63958"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-10-25T15:19:28.563Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-10-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Television Licences: Non-payment"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the amount of money that magistrates\u2019 courts in England and Wales imposed in fines for non-payment of the TV licence fee, from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/411", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Huddersfield"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Barry Sheerman"}
], "uin" : "63957"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1353325", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1353325/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for TV licence evasion in England and Wales, up to December 2020, available in the \u2018Outcomes by Offence\u2019 data tool, which can be found here:<\/p> <\/p>
<\/a>2016: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063880/outcomes-by-offence-2020-revised.xlsx
<\/a>2005-2015: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524326/cjs-outcomes-by-offence.xlsx<\/a><\/p>