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Clearer picture on the need for TV licence



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I would like to respond to several issues raised recently (Letters, 13 and 14 May).
First, I would like to clarify that the TV licence is a legal requirement for watching or recording programmes as they are broadcast, irrespective of what equipment you are using. This means that if you watch programmes on a computer or any mobile d
evice as they are being shown on TV, you must be covered by a licence.

I would also like to explain the context for TV Licensing's policy of writing to occupiers of unlicensed addresses. A minority of people (around 5 per cent) try to avoid paying the licence fee and when we visit people who have told us that they do not need a TV licence, over a third of those we make contact with do, in fact, need one.

However, we don't presume everyone is guilty of committing an offence, and we do try to ensure that genuine non-viewers are not overly-troubled by our inquiries. We're sorry if, in the case Barry Hughes describes, his son was not happy with his experience of contacting us to explain he did not need a licence, and I would like to reassure your readers that this example was the exception, rather than the norm.

Finally, in response to Michael Crosby's letter, we'd like to reassure your readers that TV Licensing is run very efficiently. When the BBC took over responsibility for licence fee collection and administration from the Home Office in 1991, costs as a proportion of income were 6.2 per cent. This was reduced to 4.1 per cent by 2006-7, despite the volume of licences in force going up by 25 per cent over the same period. Evasion fell from 12.7 per cent in 1991-2 to 5.1 per cent in 2006-7.

FERGUS REID
TV Licensing
West George Street
Glasgow





The full article contains 323 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 21 May 2008 8:40 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Maryon Jeane,

Shropshire 22/05/2008 03:22:39
This sounds very well - until you examine the reality. "We don't presume everyone is guilty of committing an offence" means that TV Licensing does harass people who do not have or need a licence by insisting on visiting them and trying to enter people's homes to "inspect" the premises to make certain that they do not need a licence - how is this not presuming that someone is in fact lying and therefore committing an offence?

"We do try to ensure that genuine non-viewers are not overly-troubled" - again, this is far from the truth. TV Licensing writes again and again to people such as myself who do not have, need or want a licence. At best they promise not to write for a *maximum* period of three years (which is never held to, in my experience) - and the letters are threatening in tone and often written in red. (Anyone seeing the envelope naturally assumes the worst.) If you try to telephone you are treated with discourtesy much of the time - and the phone numbers are expensive and TV Licensing/the BBC takes a cut of the proceeds to fund their harassment. (Don't use their expensive 0870 numbers - use their freephone numbers if you really need to call, then at least you're not paying to be harassed and badly treated: 0800 551 550 or 0800 328 2020.)

"TV Licensing is run very efficiently". Hardly. The database is a mess, and people are contacted again and again even when they've explained their situation. Dead people are contacted and threatened. Minors are contacted and threatened. Nonsense.

TV Licensing is a thuggish outfit which operates in a highly dubious manner.

There is no way of proving that one is not using a television (or any other equipment) to receive broadcasts, so this insistence on coming into people's homes is merely for intimidation. People have televisions to watch pre-recorded videos and DVDs - and a licence is not required for this; however it takes some pressure to get TV Licensing to admit this fact (note the omission from this lette
2

Guga II,

Rockall 22/05/2008 06:25:17
It is long past time that they scrapped this iniquitous television tax.

The EBC spends only a small fraction of the money they steal in Scotland, on genuine Scottish programming.

The EBC, which is already full of advertising, admittedly self-advertising, but advertising nonetheless, should be made to compete on the open market.

The television tax is also a burden on those less able to afford it, such as old age pensioners (until they are nearly dead, and they then get it for nothing if they manage to survive for longer than 85 years).

The government, that's the ones who claim for their television tax on their expenses, i.e. funded by the taxpayer, obviously don't care that these same taxpayers have to fork out for it out of their own pockets.

Most people nowadays obtain both news and information from the television (and not necessarily the EBC). A government should want the people to be well informed, and, in that case, they should not be putting a tax in information.

If people don't watch the EBC, why should they be forced to pay for the EBC? All this is doing is subsidising the fat salaries of all at the EBC, and paying ridiculous amounts of money for certain overpaid, so-called celebrities.

Make MP's pay for their own television tax, until such times as they scrap it altogether. If anyone wants the EBC, they can pay a subscription to watch it.
3

Isonomia,

Lenzie 22/05/2008 08:25:10
I don't know where all the licence fee goes, but our family isn't seeing much benefit at all. To be honest it has got to the stage all we watch on the BBC is the news (even the weather is so English biased as to be useless).

I don't think the BBC can justify keeping this tax any more!
4

Mikey,

22/05/2008 15:57:02
There's a simple solution! If all Scots just stopped paying it, what could they do? Time to raise a petition, perhaps?
5

Defiant,

England 23/05/2008 08:03:23
I find this absolutely disgusting. How these BBC sales people have the nerve to send letters to a public newspapers and tell people how great they are is unbelievable. This BBC salesperson tells you it's a legal requirement but he forgets to mention it's a requirement that was introduced to fund his employer (the mighty BBC).

Fergus, if your mighty BBC is so great then it will do just fine on it's own although we both know 75% of the UK doesn't want the BBC TV Licence. The sooner you and your communist like organisation are put to history the better!

http://tvlicenceresistance.info/
6

Defiant,

England 23/05/2008 08:15:31
"However, we don't presume everyone is guilty of committing an offence"

So why the need to send everyone in the UK threatening letters ?

Why the need to tell them,

"This is an official warning that the TV Licensing Enforcement Division will be proceeding with a full investigation of the above address. This is because there is still no record of a TV Licence at this property, despite our previous letters."

Parliament have already said the public don't have to let your salespeople into they're houses so why do you tell people they do ?. You people are the lowest of the low & your "letter" here just backs up my belief because of the usual lies!
7

Cauchy Riemann,

Wales 23/05/2008 19:39:10
Remember that TV licensing is simply a trading name used by the BBC - it is not a separate organisation. The collection of the licence fee is the responsibility of the BBC.

The BBC deliberately harrass anyone who does not have a licence. 'Fergus Reid' is simply lying if he claims otherwise. I don't have a TV and got fed up with their continual harassment - eventually I threatened them with legal action if they continued to write or visit.

The BBC are arrogant enough to consider that they somehow have the right to continually harrass anyone who doesn't have a licence.

More recently the BBC have admitted in freedom of information queries that if you tell them not to write and forbid them to visit (withdrawing right of implied access to the property - so they would be trespassing if they came on to your property) they will honour this and leave you alone. This is more recent, when I first tussled with them their replies were incredibly arrogant and only informing them of taking them to court for harrassment seemed to shut them up.

The 'thugs' they send round. Some of them are OK. Some of them have landed up in court and been found guilty for assault (in the course of their duties) and for fraud (they get commission if they 'nail' someone - so the possibility of exaggeration or outright fraud exists).

The BBC deliberately don't do a criminal check on these characters even though the BBC want you to let them inspect your home (there is no requirement for you to let them in or cooperate with them)

 

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