Leeds councillor says non-payment of TV licence must be a civil offence - YEP letters

By Coun Andrew Carter CBE, Leader of the Conservative Group, Calverley & Farsley Ward

All of a sudden a whole raft of BBC journalists are talking about alleged bias in the BBC, and the licence fee itself.

This, of course, is a classic example of media spin, drawing attention away from a very simple and straightforward decision. Is it right that failure to pay the licence fee should be a criminal offence rather than a civil offence?

We need to make sure that other wider debates do not get in the way of what is a very simple matter. It cannot be right that, according to Government figures, 18,000 people under 20 were pursued for non-payment of their licence fees since 2014; equally it cannot be right that young people are involved in a criminal prosecution for what is quite clearly a civil offence. I am not for one minute suggesting that non-payment of the licence fee should go unpunished. Of course it should be punished, by a fine.

It would appear that it disproportionately affects women. Five people were jailed for licensing offences in England last year, and in 2017 19 people were jailed, mainly women.

So, it would appear that the BBC’s determination to stick to their argument that non-payment of the licence fee should be a criminal offence, disproportionately affects young people and women.

The non-payment of the TV licence fee should undoubtedly be decriminalised, and it should become a civil offence, subject to a fine, like most other non-payment of bills, and we should not be side-tracked into a wider debate on the licence fee itself, or other matters relating to broadcasting; it’s a simple choice.

The case for de-criminalising non-payment is indisputable.