Threatening to ship TV licence defaulters to jail is ‘morally indefensible’, the Culture Secretary mentioned final evening.
Lucy Frazer’s hard-hitting feedback got here as she introduced a £10.50 rise within the annual price – far decrease than the rise sought by the BBC.
Writing completely within the Every day Mail, she put the company on discover with a pledge {that a} overview into its funding mannequin will ‘particularly have a look at the difficulty of legal prosecution of the licence price’.
It comes after a report revealed that just about 1,000 persons are prosecuted each week for not paying their licence price – making it the commonest crime within the nation, excluding motoring offences.
Issues have been raised concerning the disproportionate variety of ladies being pursued by the authorized system, with females accounting for 70 per cent of those that get fined.
Lucy Frazer’s (pictured) hard-hitting feedback got here as she introduced a £10.50 rise within the annual price – far decrease than the rise sought by the BBC
It comes after a report revealed that just about 1,000 persons are prosecuted each week for not paying their licence price – making it the commonest crime within the nation, excluding motoring offences. Pictured: The BBC headquarters at New Broadcasting Home
Campaigners have been calling for a reform of the system for years, saying it discriminates towards ladies and the susceptible. Ms Frazer mentioned it was ‘one thing I personally really feel is morally indefensible in fashionable occasions’.
A Whitehall supply mentioned: ‘The funding overview will contemplate whether or not a licence price enforced with legal sanctions continues to be acceptable.’
Ministry of Justice figures present that there have been 47,622 prosecutions and 44,106 convictions for failing to pay the tv licence within the 12 months to the tip of June 2022.
Practically all circumstances are handled below the Single Justice Process. If the accused fail to answer a letter saying they’ve been charged, the courtroom merely rubber-stamps the responsible verdict and points a high quality of as much as £1,000. Anybody who refuses to pay the high quality might be jailed, in line with the sentencing tips.
Yesterday Ms Frazer mentioned the licence price will go up by £10.50 subsequent 12 months, relatively than by the practically £15 the BBC had been anticipating. The present £159 cost will go as much as £169.50 in April. It signifies that as an alternative of a 9 per cent rise, the settlement is consistent with September’s 6.7 per cent charge of inflation. This follows a two-year-freeze on the quantity.
Ms Frazer additionally unveiled the small print of the extremely anticipated authorities overview into the BBC’s funding mannequin, which is able to have a look at alternative routes of paying for the broadcaster. The overview, which is able to embrace a panel of specialists, will report again in autumn subsequent 12 months.
Many anticipate the licence price to be axed on the conclusion of the present constitution on the finish of 2027. Options embrace a subscription mannequin, a levy on broadband and promoting income.
Campaigners have been calling for a reform of the system for years, saying it discriminates towards ladies and the susceptible (Inventory Picture)
Ms Frazer mentioned the licence price rise was a ‘honest deal’ which supplied worth for cash for the general public, however ensured the BBC can ‘proceed to provide world-leading content material’
Yesterday the BBC mentioned the diminished licence price enhance would ‘require additional adjustments’ on prime of the ‘main financial savings’ it was already delivering, with content material budgets being ‘impacted’.
It mentioned it will ‘verify the implications’ within the coming months.
Ms Frazer mentioned the licence price rise was a ‘honest deal’ which supplied worth for cash for the general public, however ensured the BBC can ‘proceed to provide world-leading content material’. She added: ‘We all know household budgets are stretched, which is why we have now stepped in once more – following two years of licence price freezes – to scale back this 12 months’s enhance to lower than a £1 a month.
‘However this settlement has highlighted different challenges confronted by the BBC with the altering media panorama making the battle for audiences extra aggressive and the variety of individuals paying the licence price lowering. This raises elementary questions as to sustainability of the present licence price system.
‘So we’re additionally launching a funding overview of the BBC that can take a forensic have a look at the licence price, and whether or not a reformed funding mannequin might higher assist our nationwide broadcaster to stay sustainable and inexpensive for audiences whereas driving progress in our inventive industries.’ The BBC’s most up-to-date annual report confirmed the quantity shopping for a TV licence had dropped by 500,000 to 24.3 million – with individuals blaming the price of residing disaster and competitors from streaming companies resembling Netflix.
MPs raised issues concerning the BBC’s impartiality after Ms Frazer introduced the licence price deal to Parliament. Tory James Sunderland mentioned he was ‘more and more involved’ concerning the ‘political bias’ that was ‘creeping in’ to its protection.
A BBC spokesman mentioned: ‘There’s all the time a debate available about one of the simplest ways to handle non-payment of the licence price, however in line with newest figures no person is in jail for not paying it and prosecutions are down 66 per cent.
‘As we have now all the time made clear, TV Licensing’s purpose is to assist individuals keep licensed and keep away from prosecution – which is all the time a final resort.’
