In 2016, there were 184,595 people charged for TV licence offences (including out of court disposal in Scotland); 15,522 less than in 2015.
PROSECUTIONS PER CAPITA
Prosecutions are above the combined UK average in Wales and below average in Scotland.
TV Licence Prosecutions & out of court disposal Per Capita, 2016 | |||||
Countries | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | TOTAL |
159,573 | 7,939 | 12,055 | 5,028 | 184,595 | |
Population
(in million) |
53.01 | 5.295 | 3.065 | 1.811 | 63.181 |
Per 1,000 people | 3 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
POLICE FORCE AREAS, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, AND COURT DIVISIONS WITH THE MOST SUSPECTED EVADERS IN 2016:
- Cleveland 28,984 (24,888 more than in 2015)
- Warwickshire 24,062 (9,502 more)
- London 19,529 (5,547 less)
- Greater Manchester 11,803 (1,162 less)
- South Wales 9,271 (2,622 less)
The change is likely to be due to the closure of courts (a centralisation that started a few years ago).
WOMEN
The BBC was alerted a few years ago to the fact that the current TV licence prosecution regime penalises women disproportionately but they haven’t changed a thing since then because they are a dinosaur incapable of compassion, introspection or change. If anything, the disproportion slightly increased in 2016.
TV Licence Convictions Per Gender, 2016 | |||||
Countries | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | TOTAL |
Women | 101,263 | 5,749* | 7,775 | 2,658 | 117,445 |
Men | 39,502 | 2,190* | 3,157 | 986 | 45,835 |
Total | 140,765 | 7,939* | 10,932 | 3,644 | 163,280 |
Percentage of women | 71.9% | 72.4% | 71.1% | 72.9% | 71.9% |
*including out of court disposals
UNSUCCESSFUL CASES
In total, 21,312 people were unnecessarily brought to court last year. This equates to nearly 1 in every 8 cases. This number of unsuccessful prosecutions lends weight to the view that cases are initiated on a speculative basis whereby it is hoped by the BBC that people will plead guilty or won’t contest the prosecution. This surely is a scandalous abuse of the courts’ process by the BBC.
Comparing these results with those of 2015, it would appear that the overall percentage of unsuccessful prosecutions has remained pretty static, but Northern Ireland still has an alarmingly high number of failed prosecutions whereas the number of Scottish cases resulting in a fine has been halved.
TV Licence unnecessary prosecutions, 2016 | |||||
Countries | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | TOTAL |
Prosecutions | 159,573 | 11* | 12,055 | 5,028 | 176,667 |
unsuccessful | 18,808 | 5* | 1,123 | 1,375 | 21,312 |
Percentage | 11.7% | 45.4%* | 9.3% | 27.3% | 12% |
*excluding out of court disposal
FINE
English evaders pay twice as much as their counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
TV Licence fine, 2016 | ||||
Countries | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
Average Fine | £188 | £123 | £96 | £86 |
Fines, at least in England and Wales, are based on the person’s income. The maximum fine is £1,000 (except in Jersey where it’s £500 and in Guernsey where it’s £2,000). In England and Wales, the fine should represent between 25% and 125% of the evader’s weekly income, depending on the duration of the offence and other factors. For example, if a guilty plea is made, a reduction will apply, reflecting the stage at which it is made.
At the first reasonable opportunity: 1/3 off
Where a trial date has been set: 1/4 off
At the door of the court: 1/10 off
For the sake of a theoretical average gain of £43 (the difference between the fine in England and the price of buying a TV licence in the first place), the BBC is happy to relentlessly chase people and press charges, which is far from free. The BBC sent, under the TV licensing trade mark, 51.5 million letters[1] in 2015. These letters were followed with around 3.9 million visits[2] by TV licence officers. But, considering that court records show that less than 35% of TV licence fines are actually recovered[3], it would appear that prosecuting people is a long way away from being a profitable business.
PRISON
TV licence evasion is not punishable by a period of imprisonment per se. It’s only when convicted evaders refuse to pay the fine they were ordered to pay, or are incapable of paying it, that a period of imprisonment may be imposed as a “last resort”. This, however, is an all-round lose/lose situation: the BBC gains nothing in the way of monies and it costs the English and Welsh tax payer an average of £89 per day[4] to keep one person behind bars. It costs £158 per day to the Northern Irish tax payer.[5] The last prison stint for TV licence fine default in Scotland was in 2008.
Prison for TV licence fine default, 2016 | ||||
Countries | England & Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | TOTAL |
number of prisoners | 29:
12 females, 17 males |
0 | 61:
32 females, 29 males |
90 |
duration of stay | 21 days (average) | 0 | 7.8 days |
CONCLUSION
It’s interesting to note that 2016 was the 70th anniversary of this government endorsed extortion[6]. After crying that the so-called loophole was slowly draining the BBC’s funding, its power to charge and barge in to homes (under the TV licensing umbrella) was recently extended on the 6th September 2016, to cover iPlayer. However, it would appear there were 25.6M TV licences in the UK in 2015-2016 (most recent data available[7]). This number has been on the rise since 2010 (oldest available data). So, have we been lied to? And where is the debate in Parliament on the future of the TV licence fee, scheduled for the 8th May 2017, but cancelled on the 3rd of May due to the snap election?
The BBC sent 51.8 million items of mail last year. This was follow up with 3.3 million visits.
TV licensing wants to add: “It’s only right we do everything we can to ensure people buy a licence, and letters are a cost effective way to get people to pay. We use letters where we don’t have email addresses and all our mailing campaigns generate substantially more revenue than they cost. We visit unlicensed properties which have ignored our earlier attempts to make contact. Our work to get people licensed at an earlier stage has been successful and we have encouraged the majority of delayers to pay at an earlier stage, prior to receiving a visit.”
These findings are backed by the following Freedom of Information requests:
FOI 112134 and 111716 Ministry of Justice for England and Wales FOI-17-00955 and FOI 2017 218 Justice Analytical Service for Scotland FOI 047/17 Court and Tribunals Service, Northern Ireland
|
DETAIL:
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted at magistrates court in England in 2016
|
|||||||
Police force area
|
Total
Prosecutions |
FEMALE | MALE | Total Guilty | Total
Unsuccessful |
||
prosec | guilty | prosec | guilty | ||||
1. Cleveland | 28,984 | 20,957 | 19,605 | 8,027 | 7,381 | 26,986 | 1,998 |
2. Warwickshire | 24,062 | 17,181 | 15,354 | 6,881 | 5,965 | 21,319 | 2,743 |
3. London | 19,529 | 13,375 | 10,774 | 6,154 | 4,479 | 15,253 | 4,276 |
4. Greater Manchester | 11,803 | 8,584 | 7,769 | 3,219 | 2,826 | 10,595 | 1,208 |
5. Sussex | 6,673 | 4,784 | 4,274 | 1,889 | 1,673 | 5,947 | 726 |
6. Cheshire | 6,497 | 4,739 | 4,367 | 1,758 | 1,556 | 5,923 | 574 |
7. Lancashire | 6,352 | 4,465 | 4,062 | 1,887 | 1,665 | 5,727 | 625 |
8. Merseyside | 4,536 | 3,245 | 3,255 | 1,291 | 1,095 | 4,350 | 186 |
9. Dorset | 4,162 | 2,875 | 2,594 | 1,287 | 1,139 | 3,733 | 429 |
10. Cambridgeshire | 4,044 | 2,865 | 2,489 | 1,179 | 1,011 | 3,500 | 544 |
11. West Yorkshire | 3,379 | 2,385 | 2,138 | 994 | 857 | 2,995 | 384 |
12. Avon & Somerset | 3,352 | 2,353 | 2,141 | 999 | 892 | 3,033 | 319 |
13. Hampshire | 3,262 | 2,281 | 2,027 | 981 | 837 | 2,864 | 398 |
14. Kent | 3,217 | 2,371 | 2,038 | 846 | 669 | 2,707 | 510 |
15. South Yorkshire | 3,099 | 2,216 | 2,022 | 883 | 773 | 2,795 | 304 |
16. Northumbria | 3,076 | 2,226 | 2,091 | 850 | 763 | 2,854 | 222 |
17. Thames Valley | 2,293 | 1,585 | 1,324 | 708 | 557 | 1,881 | 412 |
18. Nottinghamshire | 1,801 | 1,300 | 1,118 | 501 | 414 | 1,532 | 269 |
19. Humberside | 1,523 | 1,132 | 1,034 | 391 | 340 | 1,374 | 149 |
20. Norfolk | 1,461 | 965 | 838 | 496 | 419 | 1,257 | 204 |
21. West Midlands | 1,351 | 961 | 900 | 390 | 357 | 1,257 | 94 |
22. West Mercia | 1,324 | 917 | 802 | 407 | 336 | 1,138 | 186 |
23. Suffolk | 1,265 | 857 | 751 | 408 | 345 | 1,096 | 169 |
24. Staffordshire | 1,224 | 857 | 764 | 367 | 321 | 1,085 | 139 |
25. Durham | 1,200 | 869 | 779 | 331 | 303 | 1,082 | 118 |
26. Hertfordshire | 1,129 | 838 | 690 | 291 | |||
27. Bedfordshire | 1,083 | 785 | 664 | 298 | 236 | 900 | 183 |
28. Derbyshire | 1,052 | 721 | 619 | 331 | 284 | 903 | 149 |
29. Cumbria | 1,050 | 753 | 682 | 297 | 268 | 950 | 100 |
30. Gloucestershire | 1,047 | 715 | 622 | 332 | 283 | 905 | 142 |
31. Lincolnshire | 1,005 | 664 | 574 | 341 | 264 | 838 | 167 |
32. Wiltshire | 904 | 637 | 532 | 267 | 216 | 748 | 156 |
33. Leicestershire | 886 | 600 | 499 | 286 | 229 | 728 | 158 |
34. Surrey | 859 | 567 | 457 | 292 | 218 | 675 | 184 |
35. Northamptonshire | 664 | 447 | 377 | 217 | 186 | 563 | 101 |
36. North Yorkshire | 255 | 179 | 157 | 76 | 64 | 221 | 34 |
37. Essex | 136 | 86 | 66 | 50 | 40 | 106 | 30 |
38. Devon & Cornwall | 34 | 15 | 14 | 19 | 14 | 28 | 6 |
TOTAL | 159,573 | 113,352 | 101,263 | 46,221 | 39,502 | 140,765 | 18,808 |
NOT GUILTY | 12,089 | 6,791 | – | 18,808 |
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted at magistrates court in England in 2015
|
||||||
Police force area
|
TOTAL
Prosecutions |
FEMALE | MALE | TOTAL
Unsuccessful |
||
Prosecuted | Convicted | Prosecuted | Convicted | |||
1. Metropolitan Police | 25,076 | 16,611 | 13,069 | 8,465 | 6,464 | 5,543 |
2. Warwickshire | 14,560 | 10,402 | 9,164 | 4,158 | 3,581 | 1,815 |
3. Greater Manchester | 12,965 | 9,371 | 8,527 | 3,594 | 3,156 | 1,282 |
4. West Yorkshire | 11,990 | 8,391 | 7,679 | 3,599 | 3,236 | 1,075 |
5. Northumbria | 9,072 | 6,629 | 6,217 | 2,443 | 2,221 | 634 |
6. South Yorkshire | 7,562 | 5,298 | 4,836 | 2,264 | 2,023 | 703 |
7. Merseyside | 7,226 | 5,427 | 4,939 | 1,799 | 1,591 | 696 |
8. Lancashire | 7,168 | 5,021 | 4,608 | 2,147 | 1,902 | 658 |
9. Cambridgeshire | 6,305 | 4,494 | 3,985 | 1,811 | 1,553 | 767 |
10. Kent | 4,896 | 3,583 | 3,092 | 1,313 | 1,107 | 697 |
11. Hampshire | 4,808 | 3,353 | 2,859 | 1,455 | 1,218 | 731 |
12. Nottinghamshire | 4,641 | 3,346 | 2,970 | 1,295 | 1,143 | 528 |
13. Humberside | 4,584 | 3,283 | 3,037 | 1,301 | 1,162 | 385 |
14. Dorset, Devon & Cornwall | 4,334 | 3,000 | 2,672 | 1,334 | 1,153 | 509 |
15. Cleveland | 4,096 | 3,042 | 2,865 | 1,054 | 959 | 272 |
16. Durham | 4,050 | 2,888 | 2,671 | 1,162 | 1,062 | 317 |
17. Avon and Somerset | 3,997 | 2,790 | 2,563 | 1,207 | 1,060 | 374 |
18. Thames Valley | 3,921 | 2,617 | 2,183 | 1,304 | 1,064 | 674 |
19. West Mercia | 3,087 | 2,176 | 1,946 | 911 | 791 | 350 |
20. Staffordshire | 2,884 | 2,019 | 1,865 | 865 | 777 | 242 |
21. Derbyshire | 2,811 | 1,945 | 1,711 | 866 | 763 | 337 |
22. Cheshire | 2,519 | 1,798 | 1,650 | 721 | 634 | 235 |
23. Leicestershire | 2,464 | 1,638 | 1,384 | 826 | 666 | 414 |
24. Sussex | 2,412 | 1,736 | 1,484 | 676 | 553 | 375 |
25. Lincolnshire | 2,224 | 1,449 | 1,310 | 775 | 676 | 238 |
26. Northamptonshire | 2,117 | 1,452 | 1,252 | 665 | 540 | 325 |
27. Norfolk | 1,868 | 1,256 | 1,112 | 612 | 554 | 202 |
28. Suffolk | 1,648 | 1,114 | 996 | 534 | 461 | 191 |
29. Hertfordshire | 1,536 | 1,105 | 934 | 431 | 353 | 249 |
30. Surrey | 1,382 | 935 | 789 | 447 | 365 | 228 |
31. Bedfordshire | 1,321 | 901 | 718 | 420 | 330 | 273 |
32. North Yorkshire | 1,245 | 850 | 757 | 395 | 325 | 163 |
33. Cumbria | 1,127 | 837 | 773 | 290 | 261 | 93 |
34. Gloucestershire | 1,010 | 717 | 612 | 293 | 254 | 144 |
35. Wiltshire | 924 | 615 | 535 | 309 | 272 | 117 |
36. Essex | 114 | 69 | 55 | 45 | 34 | 25 |
37. West Midlands | 22 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
TOTAL | 173,966 | 122,175 | 107,835 | 51,791 | 44,269 | 21,862 |
NOT GUILTY | 14,340 | 7,522 |
WALES PER POLICE FORCE AREA
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted in Wales 2016
|
||||||
Police force area | TOTAL
Prosecuted |
Female | Male | TOTAL
unsuccessful |
||
Prosecuted | Convicted | Prosecuted | Convicted | |||
1. South Wales | 9,271 | 6,633 | 6,068 | 2,638 | 2,379 | 824 |
2. North Wales | 1,753 | 1,226 | 1,102 | 527 | 474 | 177 |
3. Dyfed-Powys | 1,028 | 669 | 602 | 359 | 304 | 122 |
4. Gwent | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 12,055 | 8,531 | 7,775 | 3,524 | 3,157 | 1,123 |
NOT GUILTY | 756 | 367 |
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted in Wales 2015
|
||||||
Police force area | TOTAL
Prosecuted |
Female | Male | TOTAL
unsuccessful |
||
Prosecuted | Convicted | Prosecuted | Convicted | |||
1. South Wales | 11,893 | 8,370 | 7,624 | 3,523 | 3,108 | 1,161 |
2. North Wales | 2,238 | 1,621 | 1,429 | 617 | 541 | 268 |
3. Dyfed-Powys | 1,248 | 831 | 753 | 417 | 355 | 140 |
4. Gwent | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
TOTAL | 15,383 | 10,823 | 9,807 | 4,560 | 4,007 | 1,569 |
NOT GUILTY | 1,016 | 553 |
NORTHERN IRELAND PER DIVISION
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted for an offence of ‘No TV licence’ by court division
Northern Ireland, 2016 |
||||||
Court office | Total
prosecuted |
Female | Male | TOTAL
unsuccessful |
||
Prosecuted | Convicted | Prosecuted | Convicted | |||
Laganside (Belfast) | 1,512 | 1,135 | 878 | 377 | 277 | 357 |
Newtownards | 395 | 272 | 199 | 123 | 86 | 110 |
Downpatrick | 148 | 103 | 77 | 45 | 34 | 37 |
Craigavon | 270 | 200 | 141 | 70 | 50 | 79 |
Armagh | 69 | 47 | 32 | 22 | 14 | 23 |
Banbridge (at Newry) | 83 | 54 | 41 | 29 | 19 | 23 |
Omagh | 168 | 122 | 87 | 46 | 29 | 52 |
Strabane | 68 | 51 | 41 | 17 | 14 | 13 |
Antrim | 190 | 121 | 81 | 69 | 48 | 61 |
Londonderry | 557 | 431 | 320 | 126 | 85 | 152 |
Enniskillen | 92 | 72 | 47 | 20 | 13 | 32 |
Coleraine | 233 | 154 | 110 | 79 | 58 | 65 |
Newry | 273 | 183 | 117 | 90 | 59 | 97 |
Limavady | 97 | 72 | 58 | 25 | 19 | 20 |
Magherafelt | 107 | 67 | 47 | 40 | 31 | 29 |
Ballymena | 221 | 154 | 113 | 67 | 55 | 53 |
Lisburn | 308 | 235 | 160 | 73 | 49 | 99 |
Dungannon | 226 | 157 | 109 | 69 | 46 | 71 |
Total | 5,017* | 3,630 | 2,658 | 1,387 | 986 | 1,373 |
NOT GUILTY | 972 | 401 |
* including 11 people of unknown gender
Number of people proceeded against vs convicted for an offence of ‘No TV licence’ by court division Northern Ireland, 2015
|
||||||
Division | TOTAL
Prosecuted |
Female | Male | TOTAL
unsuccessful |
||
Prosecuted | Convicted | Prosecuted | Convicted | |||
1. Belfast | 1,820 | 1,338 | 1,012 | 480 | 337 | 469 |
2. Londonderry | 912 | 637 | 451 | 274 | 195 | 265 |
3. Fermanagh & Tyrone | 874 | 592 | 375 | 281 | 203 | 296 |
4. Antrim | 730 | 509 | 352 | 220 | 157 | 220 |
5. Craigavon | 561 | 416 | 285 | 145 | 97 | 179 |
6. Ards | 549 | 379 | 275 | 169 | 125 | 148 |
7. Armagh & South Down | 459 | 323 | 213 | 136 | 95 | 151 |
TOTAL | 5,905* | 4,194 | 2,963 | 1,705 | 1,209 | 1,728 |
NOT GUILTY | 1,231 | 496 |
* including 6 people of unknown gender
SCOTLAND PER LOCAL AUTHORITY
People receiving a non-court disposal for offences under Section 363(2)&(4) of the Communications Act 2003, by local authority and gender. | |||
Local authority | 2015-16 | ||
Female | Male | All | |
Glasgow City | 1,482 | 523 | 2,005 |
South Lanarkshire | 632 | 250 | 882 |
East Ayrshire | 547 | 227 | 774 |
Edinburgh, City of | 472 | 174 | 646 |
Fife | 467 | 171 | 638 |
Renfrewshire | 349 | 132 | 481 |
North Lanarkshire | 310 | 97 | 407 |
Falkirk | 242 | 108 | 350 |
South Ayrshire | 214 | 92 | 306 |
West Lothian | 199 | 78 | 277 |
West Dunbartonshire | 178 | 58 | 236 |
Clackmannanshire | 119 | 53 | 172 |
Dundee City | 104 | 44 | 148 |
Stirling | 111 | 31 | 142 |
Aberdeen City | 71 | 36 | 107 |
Inverclyde | 64 | 27 | 91 |
Highland | 31 | 27 | 58 |
Aberdeenshire | 36 | 16 | 52 |
Angus | 36 | 10 | 46 |
Perth & Kinross | 27 | 10 | 37 |
Not Known | 20 | 10 | 30 |
Scottish Borders | 17 | 8 | 25 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 5 | 4 | 9 |
Moray | 8 | 1 | 9 |
Total Scotland | 5,741 | 2,187 | 7,928 |
Main result of proceedings: | |||
Fiscal Fines issued | 7,926 | ||
Fiscal Fixed Penalty | 2 |
People prosecuted in Justice of the Peace courts, where the main charge was under Section 363(2)&(4) of the Communications Act 2003, by result, local authority and gender | |||
Local Authority | 2015-16 | ||
Female | Male | All | |
Guilty | Guilty | ||
East Ayrshire | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Edinburgh, City of | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Fife | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Glasgow City | 4 | 0 | 4 |
North Lanarkshire | 1 | 0 | 1 |
South Lanarkshire | 1 | 0 | 1 |
West Dunbartonshire | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total prosecuted | 8 | 3 | 11 |
Main result of proceedings: | |||
Admonished | 5 | ||
Total Fines issued | 6 |
Non court disposals where the main offence was under the Communications Act 2003, section 363(2)&(4), by local authority area, Scotland, 2014-2015 | |||
Local Authority | ALL | FEMALE | MALE |
1. Glasgow City | 1,451 | 1,005 | 446 |
2. South Lanarkshire | 650 | 439 | 211 |
3. Fife | 493 | 335 | 158 |
4. North Lanarkshire | 324 | 241 | 83 |
5. Renfrewshire | 298 | 205 | 93 |
6. Edinburgh, City of | 258 | 167 | 91 |
7. East Ayrshire | 248 | 176 | 72 |
8. Dundee City | 179 | 124 | 55 |
9. Falkirk | 174 | 116 | 58 |
10. West Lothian | 141 | 92 | 49 |
11. Clackmannanshire | 108 | 77 | 31 |
12. East Lothian | 85 | 55 | 30 |
13. West Dunbartonshire | 67 | 43 | 24 |
14. South Ayrshire | 58 | 35 | 23 |
15. Inverclyde | 58 | 45 | 13 |
16. Angus | 49 | 35 | 14 |
17. Stirling | 44 | 36 | 8 |
18. Perth & Kinross | 42 | 26 | 16 |
19. Highland | 31 | 23 | 8 |
20. Aberdeen City | 24 | 13 | 11 |
21. Aberdeenshire | 19 | 10 | 9 |
22. Moray | 11 | 9 | 2 |
23. Eilean Siar | 5 | 2 | 3 |
24. Shetland Islands | 4 | 1 | 3 |
25. Scottish Borders | 3 | 1 | 2 |
26. Dumfries & Galloway | 3 | 3 | – |
27. Argyll & Bute | 1 | 1 | – |
28. Orkney Islands | – | – | – |
29. North Ayrshire | – | – | – |
Unknown | 20 | 13 | 7 |
Total | 4,848 | 3,328 | 1,520 |
PEOPLE PROSECUTED IN SCOTTISH COURTS where the main offence was under the Communications Act 2003, section 363(2)&(4), by local authority area, 2014-2015 | ||||
Local Authority | TOTAL
Prosecuted |
FEMALE
guilty |
MALE
Guilty |
Not Guilty |
Glasgow City | 5 | 3 | 2 | – |
North Lanarkshire | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Dundee City | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
Renfrewshire | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
Fife | 1 | 1 | – | – |
West Dunbartonshire | 1 | – | – | 1 |
West Lothian | 1 | – | – | 1 |
Total | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
[1] http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20
[2] Idem
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445844/_45__2015_04_24_-_BBC_RESPONSE_TO_CONSULTATION.pdf
[4] This average is based on a disclosure from the Ministry of Justice that it costs £32,510 per annum to house a UK prisoner. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/563326/costs-per-place-cost-per-prisoner-2015-16.pdf
[5] http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2016/12/05/news/keeping-a-prisoner-in-northern-ireland-costs-same-as-night-at-savoy–817007/
[6] People’s TV viewing is subject to a flat tax since June 1946
[7] http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ss/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=content-type&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1370006333028&ssbinary=true
I got back one morning from taking dog out to find someone knocking at my flat door, at about 8am, he made out he was scared of dogs so I put him in saying go as I did, he pushed the door out of my grip and as quick as he had done it I pulled him back with such force I never knew I had straight into the side of the communal stairs. I got in his face while he was still on the floor. Appart from the police been called and me refusing to step out the door but telling them I wanted it registering as a disability hate crime, and that he tried to illegally enter the property! When a second officer came into the communal area straight away he called the other one over after a minute the second officer came up to my door and said that they were going to leave and it was a civil dispute. If what I said was true then it is likely that you acted just within the grounds of reasonable force. I said reasonale force equals still breathing unreasonable force not breathing. That was over 4 months ago and nothing has happened since. I have my TV aerial still connected to listen to football matches and that is not illegal.
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Being connected to a TV aerial without a licence is not illegal, but watching live TV without a TV licence is I am afraid. At least until they change the current legislation.
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The poster said they listen to football, not watch on TV. The poster is quite correct that no license is required for that.
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sorry which poster are we talking about?
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The reason I believe ,they will not drop the licence fee is because the BBC is a political platform for the government, , and in keeping it it boulsters the coffers to have us pay for their political adgenda’s,
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Maybe, but there are not a political agreement on this issue inside the government. MP Andrew Bridgen is happy to try bringing the BBC down. Others, who are jealous because top brass at the BBC earns more than them, will follow.
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I enjoy one of the very few benefitsof ageing as I am old enough to not pay a TV license but I still think it is iniquitous. There’s no doubt it is a tax and for what? Biased left-wing news, a non-stop menu of repeats, vastly over-remunerated presenters/’comedians’/talk show hosts etc and sport, sport,sport.. I seldom watch any of it.
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Good for you. Yes it’s officially a tax. And the free TV licences are not free, the taxpayer gets the bill, and did you know TV licensing reward their TV licence officers by giving them a 20 pounds commission for everyone they ‘sell’?
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Left wing news? No.
Liberal Establishment news. Yes
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I will take your word for it, I haven’t watched it for over 2 years
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USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and the Netherlands don’t need TV Taxes to “entertain” their public. Neither do we. In Australia’s and New Zealand’s case their Governments found other ways to fund it without forcing people to pay. Canada have never had a tax. They make our “TV Licence Fee” look unnecessary. The BBC/Capita spies are like something written from an Orwell novel. Australia and NZ look more Liberal than us in comparison. At least they don’t send over intimidating men to knock on your door!
What the Government should do is turn the BBC into an opt in subscription service and test the public to see whether they truly support it. If it swims then they should obviously keep it going as a subscription service. If it sinks then privatise and commercialise it…or simply remove the TV Tax and make it legal for anyone to watch TV for free and find alternative methods! Our taxes are being further wasted for these pointless court cases. Nobody should have to be imprisoned for simply watching the TV. The world see’s us as this “Liberal” and “tolerant” country, but we aren’t when it comes to TV!
Now is the perfect time to start getting everyone on the streets and kicking up a fuss and bring it into the public consciousness. It’s a cross political issue. It’s even an anti-establishment issue. I think many people want it debated and want some change. It’s about time.
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I agree on all account!
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Please read this carefully,it will contain the very crux of the argument which will best serve your case!
The BBC License is actually historically wrong for this reason!
When ITV first came along,the advent of Commercial TV Stations began in the U.K. The BBC actually plough a lot of money back into making new Productions,but the point is,its not the public that should pay the BBC,Its all the Advertisement Selling TV Stations that should be paying the BBC,for the following obvious reasons.
1. They take viewers away from watching the BBC Channels,and they make money from the total amount of viewers who watch the channels.
When one Million Viewers watch ITV or any Commercial Channel,then each Advert will earn £36,000 per 30 seconds,10 Adverts in a row will earn £360,000,therefore the public are earning the TV Channels several millions per hour,for instance Channel 4 brings in around £42,000,000 per week.
2,000,000 then the advert rate doubles to £72,000 per ad. So the Viewer is not only earning billions for the TV Channels, but the BBC are blindly chastising the public and fining them if you like for watching the Box.
Now its the Commercial TV Channels that should be rewarding the public and paying the licence,even as they should be paying the BBC for stealing their viewers away from them.
This is fair. I Own a TV Channel Franchise so i had to do my research whilst creating the BBC,SO IF YOU EVER NEED ANY EVIDENCE TO DOCUMENT YOUR CASE,PLEASE DONT HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH.
Finally I worked out how much it would cost all the TV Channels to chip in and pay the license fee,so please give the Government this knowledge so they can wake up when the BBC discovers they are not wearing any clothes either!
IF One Hundred Channels contributed to pay the BBC License the entire sum would be paid for within a mere 4 hours of Advertisement broadcast time!
Phew! Flipping heck get Real BBC,OFCOM & Government whom i already gave this information to,and get real,make the TV Channels pay,for this is the only justice!
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I like your point, but you forget that the average BBC viewer is s snob who thinks adverts would spoil the viewing and even stain the content. They are of course unaware that the BBC does advertisement (blatant and disguised). The other thing is that finding new companies to suddenly advertise on the BBC (as otherwise it will just steal profits from the other channels) would be a big ask. If you can convince me better, I’m happy to listen.
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I think you have missed the point. I didnt mention bringing Advertising on to the BBC. This is why i said please read carefully. Its the Commercial Channels that should pay the license fees, because they are earning £40m+ plus per week and can afford it!
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Or put another way. The BBC need to raise £2,400,000,000 per year. The 6 TV Channels earn £38,000,000,000 per year,and another 100 Channels earn collectively £602,000,000,000 an average of over £6 Billion pounds each, so they can easily afford to pay the BBC. Make the Government revue these figures from the Inland Revenue service and then they will understand the logic behind the argument. The Figures are also released by the organisation called BARB who monitor audience numbers.
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I own my TV not the BBC.i will watch what and when I want. The whole world is all about money. Who ever invented fuckin money. I have been married for 13 years and I have a 24 year old son. My wife has no children she would give anything just to be a mother and for someone to call her mummy. For some unknown reason she cannot get pregnant. We have no money and can’t have ivf on the NHS because I have a child from a previous relationship. Because of money my wife will live here life and go to her grave childless and have never been a mummy. She is only 37. Money ?.
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