Peer Slams Outdated BBC TV Licence

The House of Lords piled fresh pressure on the Government over its decision not to decriminalise TV licence evasion.

Speaking earlier today Baroness Kate Hoey, formerly Labour MP for Vauxhall, described the £157.50 TV licence fee as belonging to "a bygone age" and called for it to be abolished.

"Older people are turning off the BBC and younger people have never even turned on," she said.

"The licence fee itself represents a bygone age and should be abolished to be replaced by a choice based alternative."

The non-aligned peer said that the tactics employed by TV Licensing were unreasonable as the nation battles coronavirus.

She asked: "How can the Government possibly justify the continued harassment, intimidation and bullying by capita to the many elderly vulnerable households just trying to survive in the midst of a pandemic?"

Baroness Diana Barran, a Minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, conceded that the TV licence fee was "disproportionate and unfair" and said that the Government would continue to consider alternative methods of funding the BBC.

She said: "Decriminalisation will remain under active consideration while more work is undertaken to understand the impact of alternative enforcement schemes.

"We remain concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system.

"However, we recognise changing the sanction would have wide-ranging impact for licence fee payers and has the potential for significantly higher fine and costs for the small minority who evade."

Baroness Barran said that the way that the TV licence is enforced is a matter for the BBC, not the Government.

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