Television licensing in the United Kingdom

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In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, a television licence is required to receive any publicly broadcast television service, from any source. This includes the commercial channels, cable and satellite transmissions. The money from the licence fee is used to provide radio, television and Internet content for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Welsh-language television programmes for S4C.

Contents 1 Operation of the licensing system 2 History 3 Licence fee expenditure 4 Public opinion 5 Legal issues 5.1 When a TV licence is required 5.2 Number of licences required per address 5.3 Licence fee enforcement 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Operation of the licensing system

The licence fee is set annually by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by the use of Statutory Instruments.

The BBC is authorised by the Communications Act 2003 to collect the licence fees. The money received is first paid into the Government's Consolidated Fund. It is subsequently included in the 'vote' for the Department of Culture Media and Sport in that year's Appropriation Act, and passed on to the BBC for the running of the BBC's own services (free from commercial advertisements), and for the BBC to produce programming for S4C.

The licence fee is classified as a tax, and evasion is a criminal offence. Since 1990, collection and enforcement of the licence fee is the responsibility of the BBC, which sub-contracts the obligations to commercial organisations trading jointly under the name "TV Licensing"^[1]. A major subcontractor is Capita which specialises in outsourcing for government projects.

The licence fee can be paid annually, monthly or quarterly by Direct Debit, or monthly or weekly with the Monthly Cash Plan or Cash Easy Entry cards, which were introduced in the mid-1990s for those with limited means or no bank account. The Monthly Cash Plan works on the same basis as the Cash Easy Entry scheme and has been designed so as not to discriminate against those who don't receive benefits.

In the UK, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man, free television licences are available for households with a member aged over 75. These are funded by the Department of Work and Pensions in the UK, and in the Crown dependencies by the respective governments. The States of Jersey did not initially opt to extend this concession to their island ^[2]; however, free licences were later introduced for over 75's, provided they received an income of less than £13 000 (for single people), or £21 000 for couples ^[3] .

On the Isle of Man, pensioners under 75 who receive income support are also eligible for free licences. The funding is provided by the Manx Department of Health and Social Security.

Licences are available at a 50% reduced rate for the blind.

Those aged over 60 and in a residential care home (including nursing homes, public-sector sheltered housing and almshouses) can obtain an Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) licence for £7.50 per year.

[edit] History

Main article: Television licensing in the United Kingdom (historical)

When first introduced on 1 June 1946, the licence covering the monochrome-only single-channel BBC television service cost £2, the equivalent of £57 in 2006. On 1 January 1968, a 'colour supplement' of £5 was added to the existing £5 monochrome licence fee; the combined colour licence fee was therefore £10, the equivalent of £120 in 2006. The current cost is £139.50 (as of 2008 – about €200 or US$270) for colour TV and £47.00 for monochrome TV, per household.

A similar licence, mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radios powered by mains electricity (battery sets did not need a licence), but this was abolished in 1971. These licences were originally issued by the General Post Office (GPO), which was then the regulator of public communications within the UK. For a more detailed historical explanation see British Broadcasting Company.

[edit] Licence fee expenditure

The BBC^[4] gives the following information for expenditure of licence fee income (expressed here in percentage terms):

• 69% - National and regional television
• 11% - National radio
• 7% - Local radio
• 9% - Costs of broadcasting plus costs of collecting licence fees*
• 4% - Web sites

The BBC World Service on radio is funded by government grant and not the licence fee.

BBC World and the BBC's other international television channels are operated commercially and do not receive licence fee money. As they include advertisements, they cannot be promoted in the UK.

(*) During 2006, the BBC stated that the percentage of the licence fee spent on collection and enforcement (exclusive of broadcasting costs) was 5.2^[5].

[edit] Public opinion

The television licence fee has been criticised by some sections of the media, especially conservative-leaning newspapers.^{[6] [7][8]}

In 2005, the government conducted research into public opinion of the licensing system.^[9] Criticisms concerning the TV licence include cost, value for money, whether or not the BBC should be publicly funded, and licence collection methods.

Supporters of the licence fee claim that it helps maintain a higher quality of programming on the BBC compared to its commercial rivals, and allows the production of programmes that would otherwise not be commercially viable. Some claim that it also leads to better programmes (and a reduced quantity and frequency of advertisements) on the commercial channels, as they seek to draw viewers/listeners away from the BBC's output. Also, in general, the commercial television companies favour the licence fee, since it means the BBC will not compete with them for advertising or subscriptions.^{[citation needed]}

Some critics claim that the licensing system interferes with the freedom to receive information, and contend that this is a contravention of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to Freedom of Expression). It should however be noted that the Convention allows for qualifications and restrictions on the Freedom of Expression, and many European countries have licence systems that are very similar to the UK's.^{[citation needed]}

The licence fee has been criticised for being a regressive tax, in that the very poorest are those least likely to have a licence, and least able to pay the fine for not having a licence.^[10] With compulsory payments the poorest in society are sometimes given help to pay; this is not the case with the UK licence fee. Indeed many other countries implementing TV licensing systems do have discounts for the poorest members of society.

Some regard it unfair that licences are issued to households, so that a single-person household has to pay the same amount as a multi-person household. In contrast, single-person households get a 25% discount on their council tax. The defenders of the current system suggest it could be complicated to implement such a system for the TV licence, as the number of members in a household can vary often.^{[citation needed]}

Some regard it to be an anomaly, and many consider it extremely unfair, that a person can be forced to pay the licence fee while not using the services it pays for.^{[citation needed]}

Some also regard it as an anomaly that a person who owns a radio and no TV set can listen to BBC radio programmes (funded by the licence fee) without having to own a licence. Prior to 1971, there was a separate radio licence but with the proliferation of miniaturised transistor radios and the very small number of households with no TV it was decided that such a licence was uneconomic and impractical to collect (although some other countries continued to do so).^{[citation needed]}

Some critics regard it an ethical issue that blind people have to pay 50% of the TV licence, a higher amount than for the black-and-white licence, while supporters argue that this is a very fair rebate for those blind people who actually have a TV and thus obviously make use of it, especially as the BBC now is spending substantial amount of money to provide audio description.

Some critics point out that viewers in much of the Republic of Ireland, Northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands also pick up terrestrial signals of the BBC, but do not pay a licence fee to watch BBC programmes. The counter-argument from the defenders of the system is that the same is true in reverse of viewers in most of Northern Ireland and parts of Wales, and also of viewers in the Channel Islands, who can watch Irish and French TV respectively without paying those countries' TV licence fees, and nowadays national broadcasters from many countries are on satellite.^{[citation needed]}

More recently the rise of multi-channel digital television has led to criticisms that the licence fee is unjustifiable on the basis both that minority interest programming can now be broadcast on specialist commercial channels and that the licence fee is currently funding a number of digital-only channels which many licence holders cannot access (for example BBC Three and BBC Four)[2]. This situation, however, is comparable to the introduction of the 625-line only BBC2 in 1964, which operators of existing 405-line television sets were unable to receive without upgrading to a 625-line or dual-standard set.

Finally, the rise of other mediums for broadcasting television programmes, such as mobile phones or the Internet, has led to questions over whether or not a licence fee based on television ownership can continue to be justified when televisions are no longer the sole means for the BBC to distribute its content.[3]

In the Charter Renewal debate in 2004, a poll by the BBC's current affairs programme Panorama showed that 31% were in favour of the existing licence fee system, 36% said the BBC should be paid for by a subscription, and 31% wanted advertising to pay for the programmes. (Source^[11] ICM/Panorama.)

Successive parliamentary committees, most recently the Peacock committee and the Davies committee, have recommended continuing the licence fee (with conditions), while a 2001 Ofcom report found that the vast majority of those it interviewed, including owners of digital television equipment, supported the principle of a licence fee funded public service broadcasting. The advantages of such funding listed by those interviewed included diversity, high quality, education, innovation, entertainment, information, original productions, pluralism, accessibility, inclusion of minorities and free access.[4] Another reason cited is that the licence fee allows the BBC to retain independence from both commercial and political pressures.[5]

[edit] Legal issues

[edit] When a TV licence is required

According to Act of Parliament, a TV licence must be obtained for any device that is "installed or used"^[12] for "receiving a television programme at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public"^[13].

According to TV Licensing, "You need a TV Licence if you watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV, irrespective of what channel you're watching, what device you are using (TV, computer, laptop, mobile phone or any other device), and how you receive them (terrestrial, satellite, cable, via the Internet or any other)"^[14].

Specific exclusions not requiring a TV licence are:

• digital box used with a hi-fi system or another device that can only be used to produce sounds^[14]
• television set installed and used solely for some purpose other than watching or recording television programmes (e.g. closed-circuit TV monitor, DVD or video player or games console)^[15][16]

The BBC have stated that a licence is not needed simply because a television receiver is owned^[17].

A previously recorded TV programme is outside the scope of the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004, because it is not "received at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public"^[13][18]. (Viewing unauthorised recordings of programmes may infringe copyright, but that is a separate matter.)

According to Ofcom, TV broadcasts over the internet are a grey area^[19] which in future might make fees based on television ownership redundant. In 2005, a Green Paper by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports included suggestions of "either a compulsory levy on all households or even on ownership of PCs as well as TVs"^[20]. However, TV Licensing have since stated that use of any device (such as a computer or mobile phone) receiving broadcasts at the same time as they appear on TV requires a licence^[18][14].

It used to be the case that televisions receiving a broadcast from outside the UK (e.g. Satellite from Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands where many channels are Free to Air) did not need a licence, but this was changed by the Communications Act (2003), so that the reception of television from any source requires a TV licence.

[edit] Number of licences required per address

Only one licence is required per household per address, regardless of the number of licensed devices or the number of members of the household.

A rented property in multiple occupation by a joint tenancy agreement is considered by TV Licensing as one household and requires only one licence, but a rented property with multiple, separate tenancy agreements is not considered a single household and each tenant may require a separate licence^[21]. For example, a house in multiple occupation may have private bedrooms and shared communal areas: if five occupants share such a property with individual tenancy agreements then they may require up to six television licences if each private room contains a television receiver and a communal area also contains a television receiver, while a similar property housing five occupants under a joint tenancy agreement may require only one television licence^[22].

Use of television in a static caravan is covered by the licence held for the user's main address, provided there is no simultaneous use of television at both places, and the use of television in a touring caravan is always covered by the user's main home licence^[23]. The use of a television set which is powered solely by its own internal batteries is covered for any address by the user's main home licence, but requires a separate licence if it is plugged into the mains or other external power source, such as a car battery^[23]: this also applies to TV-enabled mobile telephones^[18].

[edit] Licence fee enforcement

TV detector vans have in the past featured heavily in TV Licensing publicity, implying that secret technology capable of detecting signals from operating TV sets is employed^[24], and TV Licensing has developed a hand-held detector^[25]. Such technology used in conjunction with targeted advertising acts as a deterrent: its use may make it easier for TV Licensing agents to establish that an offence is likely to be taking place but they would still need to secure further evidence for successful prosecution^[26][27]. Furthermore, such technology is restricted in its use by the meaning of "surveillance and covert human intelligence sources" in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000^[25] and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (British Broadcasting Corporation) Order of 2001^[28][29]. TV Licensing now states "We will only use detection equipment to identify evaders when other, more cost effective, routes have been exhausted"^[1], and the BBC has stated that "Detection technology is generally used to obtain search warrants"^[26].

The critical method of detecting evaders is through the use of a database system known as LASSY^[27], which contains 29.5 million^[25] addresses in the UK. This database is routinely updated with licence details and with details submitted by dealers in television receiving equipment, all of whom are required by law to provide TV Licensing with identifying information about everyone who buys or rents such equipment^[30]. TV Licensing maintains permanent contact with every address in the database that is recorded as not having a TV licence^[31].

The initial contact with occupants of addresses for which there is no current licence is by letter. During the year 2005-6, approximately 23.5 million "standard warning" letters were sent^[32]. The only methods by which an occupant can reply are in writing or by telephone. If a business or household is not obliged to have a TV licence then TV Licensing will request written confirmation of this, even though no such information is required to be given in law^[5][33].

If a colour TV licence is not purchased for an address, TV Licensing agents — known as "enquiry officers" or "enforcement officers" — make unannounced visits to the address. Visits are made even when the occupant has declared that no licence is necessary^[25][34], or when a licence has been purchased for only black-and-white television^[23]. The number of visits rose from 2.9 million during the year 2005-6 to 3.5 million during the year 2006-7^[25]. The BBC states that when premises are checked, around 40% of people who claimed not to have a television were found to be using one^[35], and TV Licensing states that more than 30% who hold a black-and-white licence have been found to be inappropriately licensed^[23].

TV Licensing enforces the BBC's statutory obligation to ensure that every address where a television licence is required is correctly licensed^[23], but its agents have no special rights and, like any other member of the public, rely on an implied right of access to reach the front door^[5][34]. The occupants of a visited property may deny an agent entry to the premises^[35] without cause and are under no obligation to answer any questions or enter into any conversation. If an agent has evidence that television is being watched or recorded illegally but is denied entry by the occupants so that (s)he cannot verify the suspicion without trespassing, then TV Licensing may apply to a magistrate for a search warrant, but the use of such warrants is rare^[25]. The BBC states that a search warrant would never be applied for solely on the basis of non-cooperation with TV Licensing^[36][34] and that in the event of being denied access to unlicensed property will use detection equipment rather than a search warrant^[35].

The law allows a fine of up to £1,000 be imposed on those successfully prosecuted. This figure is frequently publicised by TV Licensing to maximise deterrence. In reality, magistrates rarely impose the maximum fines allowed to them by law. During the year 2005-6, the average fine including costs was approximately £153^[37] (slightly more than the cost of a licence). However, in addition to the fine the guilty party will be obliged to purchase a licence at the usual cost.

TV Licensing is managed as a sales operation^[29] and its officers are motivated by commission payments. In 2005, a TV Licensing officer was found guilty of false accounting and perverting the course of justice after he deliberately forged the confessions of four people to obtain commission payments^[38].

For the year 2005-6, TV Licensing claimed that they "reduced estimated evasion to a record low of 4.7%"^[39]. However, this figure rose during the following year to 5.1%^[25].

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board estimated that of June 2004, 2.3% of UK households do not have television^[40].

[edit] Notes

The Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004^[13] gives the following definition:

• "television receiver" means any apparatus installed or used for the purpose of receiving (whether by means of wireless telegraphy or otherwise) any television programme service, whether or not it is installed or used for any other purpose.
• any reference to receiving a television programme service includes a reference to receiving by any means any programme included in that service, where that programme is received at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public by virtue of its being broadcast or distributed as part of that service.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• TV Licensing (United Kingdom)
• Future of the BBC – documents relating to the review of the BBC's charter
• Citizens Advice Bureau TV Licence Guide
• A site mostly concerned with the experiences of UK citizens without Television and The TV Licensing Authority

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