The BBC.Put up or shutup. By Les May

In the recent past Northern Voices has carried articles critical of official attitudes which give the impression that particular decisions have been taken which reflect a fear of how some sections of our society might react, rather than giving support people to who have appeared to be under threat. One of these was the refusal to give asylum to Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian whose life was threatened after she was released from prison where she had languished on trumped up charges of disrespecting Muhammad. The second was the failure to make clear to the followers of Islam who thought they had the right to dictate what was taught at Batley Grammar school and by whom, that Britain does not have laws against blasphemy and they were not going to be allowed to introduce one ‘by the back door’. But it appears that at least one organisation in Britain is headed by people reluctant to do their job properly and uphold the law for fear of the adverse publicity that would be generated. The organisation goes by the name of ‘TV Licensing’. To understand what is going on we need to look back a few years. TV licences for the over-75s were free from November 2000 until the end of July 2020. About 4.5 million households benefited from this. The decision to end this concession was made by the BBC which had agreed in 2015 to take over the funding of these licences. I benefited from this from July 2017 until last year. As a law abiding citizen I paid my licence fee in full on 1 August 2020 and had every intention of doing so again on 1 August 2021. I chose not to. What follows is not about whether it is ‘fair’ that people of 75 and over should have or not have to pay the licence. Nor is it about the quality of the programmes, the number of ‘repeats’, whether I watch BBC television or not, whether a licence fee is the right way to fund the BBC or whether it is all the Tory government’s fault anyhow. It’s about whether the people who head the licence fee collection organisation are willing to do their job, and thereby earn their not inconsiderable salaries, or whether they can shy away from doing it because they do not want to face the adverse publicity which would result from their having a procession of over 75s face court proceedings or have the bailiffs raid their homes. The law is clear on this matter. Not having a licence to watch television programmes, whether received over the air or via the Internet, is a civil offence. Yet after more than a year when some 700,000 (15%) previously eligible households have not purchased a licence, there has not been a single prosecution. A report in The Times in March this year was headed ‘BBC unlikely to prosecute over-75s who don’t pay licence fee’. Media correspondent Matthew Moore wrote, ‘The prospect of over-75s being dragged through the courts for TV licence evasion receded last night as the BBC gave the strongest signal yet that it has no plans to prosecute them’ and that the BBC had reassured those who previously held a free licence that they were still ‘legally covered’. The present situation is a farce. It’s time for the BBC Licensing department to either put up, i.e. launch a few prosecutions, ‘pour encourager les autres’, or shut up and accept that those who were previously eligible for a free licence will continue to do so until their demise. When I received my third or fourth reminder a few days ago I responded as follows; Dear Sirs, Thank you for your letter reminding me that my TV licence has expired. It was in fact unnecessary as I am already aware of this. I understand that you may wish to open an investigation. To save you the trouble I indicate below what such an investigation would find: 1. I am aware that I am breaking the law by not having an appropriate licence. 2. I am in a position to pay for such a licence. 3. My decision not to obtain a further licence is a deliberate one. 4. As soon as the head of the organisation known as ‘TV Licensing’ shows a willingness to uphold the law by facing the adverse publicity that would result if persons aged 75 or over are taken to court charged with failure to hold an appropriate licence, I will immediately purchase a licence. If you find it necessary to write to me in the future would you please include the full address of the organisation at the head of the letter? Yours sincerely Les May In other words I will pay up when they start doing the job they are being paid to do. In the meantime I have sent a cheque to UNICEF for £159 which is the present cost of the licence fee. P.S. Pippa Doubtfire who heads the BBC’s TV Licensing Management Team receives a salary in the range £155,000-£159,999. We don’t know what the guy who signs the letters, Chief Operating Officer Ross McTaggart, earns or even who he works for because the BBC contracts out the process of actually collecting the money.