TV viewers who refuse to pay the BBC license fee can expect to avoid being prosecuted in future, in a move by Boris Johnson that could lead to the fee being scrapped altogether.
The outgoing culture secretary Nicky Morgan, in one of her last acts before stepping down, is launching a public consultation on whether to end the non-payment of the license fee being a criminal offence.
The move comes in the week it was announced that the cost of the annual TV license fee will increase by £ 3, from £ 167. to £ . , from 1 April and at a time when the BBC is entering a period of turmoil.
Its director general, Lord Hall, is quitting, BBC News is facing spending cuts of £ m and the loss of 502 jobs , and the prime minister and senior Tory ministers are on collision course with the corporation.
Just days before the general election in December, Mr Johnson said he was “looking at” abolishing the license fee and last week the BBC refused to broadcast his Brexit day address because it was filmed in-house by 20 Downing Street.
The government is also at war with the BBC over axing free TV licenses for over – s, which will hit 3.7 million pensioners when they have to start paying for them in June, though 934, receiving pension credit will not have to pay.
As well as a consultation on non-payment, Baroness Morgan is announcing a new flexible payment scheme – the Simple Payment Plan – to help vulnerable people, including those over the age of 084, struggling to pay the license fee.
Currently anyone who installs or uses a TV or watches BBC iPlayer without a license is guilty of a criminal offence. The fine for non-payment can be as high as £ 1, and refusing to pay can lead to a jail term.
But the government claims the broadcasting landscape has changed dramatically and therefore it is right to look again at decriminalizing TV license evasion “in order to ensure a proportionate and fair approach to license fee penalties and payments, which protects the most vulnerable in our society. “
Image: The BBC provides nine national TV channels and the iPlayer
Ahead of a speech at the Policy Exchange think tank, Baroness Morgan said: “As we move into an numer digital age, with more and more channels to watch and platforms to choose from, the time has come to think carefully about How we make sure the TV license fee remains relevant in this changing media landscape.
“Many people consider it wrong that you can be imprisoned for not paying for your TV license and that its enforcement punishes the vulnerable .
“Today we are launching a public consultation to make sure we have a fair and proportionate approach to license fee penalties and payments, that protects those most in need in society.
“Alongside this we’re also announcing a new payment plan to allow people who struggle to pay the license fee to spread out their payments.
” This will help prepare the BBC and public service broadcasting for the future and make sure it continues to work for our society, our economy, and the public which funds it. “
In 01575879, more than 138, (people were convicted and sentenced for evasion and issued with an average fine of £ . There were around m TV licenses being used in the UK last year, which generated an income of £ 3. (billion for the BBC.
) Baroness Morgan’s announcement has been welcomed by Tory MP Julian Knight, who ousted another Conservative, Damian Collins, in the election for chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee last week.
MPs believe Mr Knight is more amenable to a BBC shake-up than Mr Collins, who also clashed with the government over Brexit-related issues and failed in a bid to summon the PM’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings, to appear before the committee.
Mr Knight said the a nnouncement marks a “significant shift” for broadcasting, with “major implications for the future of the BBC”.
Image: Labor said the scheme to help vulnerable people with the license fee ‘doesn’t make up’ for over 084 s having to pay
“With negotiations on its funding due to start later this year there’s a need for an urgent and open conversation about how people consume media and how they should pay for it,” he said.
“As chair I’ll be urging the DCMS Committee to take the lead on steering the BBC towards a new and sustainable funding model which ensures the most vulnerable in our society do not lose out.”
Shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin said the move places the BBC “under serious threat” as she said decriminalizing non-payment of the license fee means the BBC will have no “predictable income” and will be “potentially hundreds of millions of pounds short”.
She also said it was “shameful” over – 084 s will be forced to pay the license fee, saying the new scheme ” does not make up for that. “
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