Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Rt Hon Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media
and Sport
Thank you for giving me such a detailed hearing
on Tuesday. I look forward to reading the Committee's Report in
due course.
The Committee raised two questions on which
I promised to write with details.
Transition from 405 line to 625 line television
transmissions
The Committee asked if there is any information
about whether a quantifiable number of people who had been able
to receive VHF 405 line transmissions could not receive UHF 625
line television services at the time that the 405 line services
ceased.
I understand from the BBC and the ITC that 405
line services finally ceased in January 1985. An ITA document
published in 1969 reported that 405 line coverage had reached
98.7 per cent of the population and no further transmitters were
planned. The IBA later reported on 31 December 1984 that 99.1
per cent of the UK population was covered by the UHF 625 line
services (though this excluded Channel 4 and S4C). On the basis
of these assessments there was no net loss of service on the closure
of 405 line transmissions.
Decriminalisation of the licence fee
Failure to be properly licensed is a criminal
offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, but the BBC makes every
effort to ensure that those who find the licence difficult to
pay are assisted to do so.
Since taking responsibility for collecting the
fee from the Home Office in 1991, the BBC has introduced a number
of easy payment schemes enabling people to pay for their licences
either in annual, quarterly, monthly or even weekly instalments.
The BBC's enforcement policy aims to ensure that people are given
every opportunity to buy a licence before a decision to prosecute
is made.
As a result, according to information supplied
by the BBC, the number of prosecutions for licence fee evasion
has more than halved from 209,000 in 1991-92 to 98,000 in 1998-99
(see Table A), while 22.8 million people do pay their licences
each year. Even when prosecution does take place, the courts are
able to take individual circumstances into account both in imposing
any fines and in considering the consequences of default. As a
result, again according to information supplied by the BBC, few
of those who default in paying fines for non-payment of their
licence fee are imprisoned (less than 0.2 per cent or 148 individuals
in total during the whole of last year) and those who are imprisoned
have usually defaulted on a number of other fines too (such as
fines for motoring offences). Table B provides further details.
Imprisonment can of course also be the ultimate
penalty for non-payment of civil debts. But we believe the criminal
sanction is a more effective deterrent for those who are deliberately
avoiding payment.
Table A
IMPRISONMENT FIGURES FOR FINE DEFAULT INCLUDING
TVL
|
| Year | Males
| % Increase/Decrease | Females
| % Increase/Decrease |
|
| 1991 | 258
| | 136 |
|
| 1992 | 405
| +57% | 163
| +20% |
| 1993 | 553
| +37% | 292
| +79% |
| 1994 | 487
| -12% | 243
| -17% |
| 1995 | 493
| +1% | 235
| -3% |
| 1996 | 238
| -52% | 89
| -62% |
| 1997 | 173
| -27% | 61
| -31% |
| 1998 | 107
| -38% | 41
| -33% |
|
December 1999
| 
