Plans to de-criminalise TV licence non-payment welcomed

Plans to de-criminalise TV licence non-payment welcomed

Government plans to make non-payment of the TV licence fee no longer a criminal offence have been welcomed by local UKIP MEP Paul Nuttall.

“I welcome the fact that ministers are finally coming round to the common sense view that it is wrong to criminalise the non-payment of the licence fee.

"This is a matter that UKIP Peer, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, has been pursuing for some time and last year he tabled a bill, which is awaiting its second reading in the House of Lords, to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee," said Mr Nuttall, the party's deputy leader.

"Non-payment should be treated in the way that parking tickets are as it is absurd that the courts are being clogged up by such a minor offence.

"Now that the Government has seen the wisdom of Lord Pearson's proposal to make non-payment of the licence fee a civil offence, perhaps they will see the wisdom in the other part of his bill.

"That calls for trustees of the BBC to be directly elected by the licence fee payers. A move that will also allow those elected trustees to appoint the Chairman and Director-General of the BBC, thus paving the way for wider and more balanced coverage of issues such as Britain’s relationship with the EU," said Mr Nuttall.

Currently anyone failing to pay the licence fee faces a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record. Those who refuse to pay any magistrates courts fines ultimately face jail.

In 2012 it was reported that more than 180,000 people appeared before the Magistrates Courts, accused of watching television without a valid £145.50 licence accounting for around 12 per cent of magistrates cases.