The Government has just announced the outcome of a consultation on the decriminalisation of TV licence evasion.
Despite earlier bouts of anti-BBC virtue-signalling, the Government has decided against decriminalisation at this stage.
The Government reasserted its concerns that criminal sanctions are increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system. It has vowed to keep the decriminalisation of TV licence evasion under constant review, but has decided to leave the legislation untouched for the time being.
The Government has said it wants to ensure that any future changes to the TV licence sanction or enforcement scheme are not seen as an invitation to evade the TV licence requirement, nor privilege the rule-breaking minority over the rule-abiding majority.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "A criminal sanction for TV licence evasion in the digital media age feels outdated and wrong, and many who responded to our consultation agreed. Whilst the delivery of decriminalisation right now is problematic, we intend to keep looking at this as we negotiate the next Licence Fee settlement and push for the reforms at the BBC that the new leadership has recognised are needed."
The consultation process, which has been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, received more than 150,000 responses from individuals and stakeholders. Your can read the Government's final report on the consultation here.
Responses revealed that a significant number of people are opposed to a criminal sanction with some highlighting the considerable stress and anxiety it can cause for individuals, particularly the most vulnerable in society, such as the elderly.
Decriminalisation will be considered alongside the licence fee settlement negotiations that began in November. The negotiations will set the level of the licence free for a period of at least five years from 2022 and will provide the context within which any future decision on decriminalisation will be taken.
For the first time, you can read the TV Licensing Blog's response to the consultation in full.
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1 comment:
From the Government Web site :
...licence evasion would have wide-ranging impacts for licence fee payers, including the potential for significantly higher fines and costs for individuals who evade the licence fee requirement under a civil regime.
That is total drivel and here is the reason why.
Lets make a comparison with the nearest thing to the TV licence that most people encounter and that is your water bill.
Unlike other utility companies like gas and Electric, the Water Companies have an absoluter legal responsibility to supply water to every domestic premises in the country. Consequently the householder has a corresponding legal responsibility to pay for the water they receive.
Fail to pay your Electricity bill and you are in breach of contract. Fail to pay tour water bill and you are breaking the law and will end up in the County Court.
I don't believe County Court Judges have the authority to issue fines. Fines are for criminal offences and we are talking about civil action. All the county Court Judge can do is make an order for the defendant to pay any outstanding fees and costs. County Court Judges tend not to order excessive costs individuals that they cannot pay.
So if the civil regime is good enough for water, what is so special about the TV Licence. I suspect TV Licensing are worried that in the County Court they will come up against qualified QCs that will want to see some proof before they start issuing County Court summonses. They wont find it so easy to bamboozle a county Court Judge as easy as they might with an untrained Magistrate.
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