TV Licensing Disproportionately Targeting Women

Over the last few days there has been a bit of a media campaign highlighting the disproportionate number of women prosecuted by TV Licensing.

The Magistrates' Association, which claims to be the independent voice of the Magistracy, seems to be spearheading the campaign, as its chief executive, Tom Franklin, seems to be getting a lot of name checks and soundbites.

The News and Star, which covers Cumbria, has been one of the publications covering this story.

According to the News and Star there were 770 prosecutions for TV licence evasion within Cumbria in 2022. Of those 559, just shy of three-quarters, related to the prosecution of women.

We have previously discussed the reasons for this gender inbalance:

"Under the current criminal enforcement regime, TV Licensing enquiry officers call at unlicensed properties to determine if TV programmes (or BBC on-demand programmes) are being received without a valid TV licence.

"The enquiry officer will seek to gather evidence of unlicensed TV reception by questioning whoever answers the door (assuming it is a normal adult occupant of the property). They will often ask to enter the property to inspect any TV receiving equipment therein, but the occupier is under no legal obligation to allow access.

"The enquiry officer will record the name of whoever they are questioning on a TVL178 Record of Interview form, which they complete as a contemporaneous record of the visit. The information on the form may subsequently be presented as evidence of the offence in court. Assuming the relevant evidential and public interest tests are met, the person interviewed by the enquiry officer is the person liable to any subsequent prosecution.

"The high proportion of women being prosecuted arises from the fact that they are far more likely to be at home when an enquiry officer calls. This is particularly true of (invariably) younger women looking after young children at home. The unemployed and disabled people are also more likely to be at home during the day and answer the door to TV Licensing.

"It is also believed that women are more likely to be cooperative, talkative and trusting when engaging with an enquiry officer, so they are far more likely to divulge information leading to a prosecution."

In 2022 across England and Wales there were 44,245 prosecutions for TV licence evasion, which resulted in 40,654 convictions. This represents a conviction rate of 92 percent. Of the 40,654 convictions, 30,193 (74 percent) related to women.

In Scotland prosecutions are handled differently, with the overwhelming majority of cases being dealt with via an out of court disposal known as a fiscal fine.

Speaking of the situation in England and Wales, Mr Franklin said: "According to TV Licensing data, this gender disparity is not reflected in who holds the TV licence, which suggests that the disparity results from either capacity or willingness to pay, or the enforcement practices being followed."

He added it is thought women are more likely to register as heads of household or are more likely to be home during the day, therefore more likely to answer the door to inspectors.

"What we are clear about is that a better understanding is needed of what is behind the disparity, and then action should be taken to address it going forward," he said.

A TV Licensing spokesperson said: "Prosecution is always a last resort and our priority is to help people stay correctly licensed."

That is TV Licensing's stock response to stories like this one, which is routinely contradicted by the shameful way it behaves in practice.

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Further anti-BBC reading:

• Is The True Or Did You Hear It On The BBC?, by David Sedgwick (aff. link)
• The BBC: Myth of a Public Service, by Tom Mills (aff. link)