Anders Hanson

Tory MP Gary Streeter has put down an Early Day Motion criticising the treatment of those who don’t have a TV set by TV Licensing. The wording of the motion explains it properly:

EDM 1289

TREATMENT BY TV LICENSING OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOT OWN TELEVISION SETS

Streeter, Gary

That this House notes with concern that despite not owning or using a television set over one million people (two per cent. of the population) nonetheless receive letters from TV Licensing demanding information and a response to prove non-use; is concerned that in the absence of any such response such citizens receive further chasing letters intimidating in tone; recognises that there are many constantly reported cases of non-TV owners being distressed by such threatening letters; is further concerned that these letters are sent without any evidence that a TV is owned; notes that Capita plc, the company that operates the collection of the TV licence fee for the BBC, reported a 22 per cent. jump in profits before tax in 2004 to £148 million and a further jump in 2005 by 19 per cent. to £177 million; and calls upon TV Licensing to introduce a new system for collecting licence fees that is more sensitive to those citizens who legitimately choose not to have a television; and further calls upon TV Licensing to be required to use sophisticated non-intrusive detection technology which they presently refuse to use as they consider it more cost effective to harass innocent non-television owning citizens by unsupportable threatening letters.

Having received similar intimidating letters from TV Licensing myself I am fully behind him on this issue. A few years ago I moved in to a new flat and got a TV Licence immediately. However for the next month or two I continued receiving letters saying I didn’t have one. One day I came home from work to find a letter saying that TV Licensing had visited me and if I had been at home I would have “been cautioned and an interview would have taken place”. Every time I rang TV Licensing they confirmed I had a TV Licence and that it was simply because the letters and lists of who to visit were printed in advance. My argument was that if they were sending threatening letters then they should make sure their list was fully up to date.

I made a written complaint, and they did even ring me some weeks later as part of some market research in to how people felt their complaints had been handled, (badly would have been the reply), but instead I was informed that as my occupation was in marketing then I “wouldn’t give answers that were representative of the population” and so they couldn’t continue with their research.

Of course, the real solution would be to scrap the TV Licence all together and either have advertising on the BBC or instead add the cost of running the BBC in to general taxation which would surely cost each person less than the BBC having to pay Capita for providing the bureaucracy that runs TV Licensing.

EDM 1289: Treatment by TV Licensing of people who do not own television sets