A leading Belfast politician has slammed TV Licensing for conducting enforcement activities when Northern Ireland is subject to a coronavirus lockdown.
Gerry Carroll MLA, of the People Before Profit political party, blasted the BBC's revenue generation arm for hauling people before the courts at a time of national crisis.
Speaking to The Sunday Life, he said: "Given that prosecutions are proceeding for those who haven't paid TV licences the idea that we are 'all in this together' can certainly be discarded.
"How many employers who disregarded health regulations and put workers' lives at risk will be in the dock next year? I suspect not many.
"Whilst living through a pandemic and with many cases of justice being delayed, it is stomach-churning that cases set for the new year aren't serious issues of criminal or harmful activity but instead the non-payment of TV licences.
"I would hazard a guess that the issue of a TV licence was not high on the agenda of many people in this, a year of a global pandemic, especially as issues around furlough, job losses and others were aplenty.
"I would call on the PPS or whomever is bringing these cases to refuse to proceed with them and I would urge that these individuals be exempt from paying these fines and a fairer system is put in place which ensures those who have more pay, rather than a blanket rate of a TV licence for all, helping those on low incomes and low paid workers."
A TV Licensing spokesperson said: "In line with government guidance we resumed visits at the start of August, after introducing a number of strict safety measures.
"It is mandatory visiting officers wear face coverings, maintain a two metre distance at all times and they do not enter people's homes. The interview determines whether further action is to be taken, however the preference is always that customers pay for a licence rather than be prosecuted."
Last year TV Licensing prosecuted more than 3,700 people in Northern Ireland, with 23 of those ending up in prison for non-payment of the associated fines.
TV Licensing currently has cases listed at the following Magistrates' Courts: Belfast, Antrim, Coleraine, Londonderry and Dugannon.
1 comment:
One reason that someone on benefits might not pay for a licence is that the DWP have sanctioned them for one reason or another. When sanctioned you can get payments but after the sanction is lifted you have to pay back the amount you were given during the sanction period, in a way you are sanctioned for being sanctioned.
These payments are about 60% of the person's normal benefits. That person then has to judge what to pay and what not to pay. That person would have less than £200 per month to live on but have to pay that money back over a 12 month period the longer the sanction the higher the payments would be, a 12-month sanction would have the person paying that £200 a month back from just over £323 so they would be worse off than when they were sanctioned.
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