Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 7, 2015 16:29:05 GMT
I don't think this is the only reason the government fails to act morally and ethically in regard to the BBC licence fee, because they lack these virtues to begin with, but it is just one more reason where they see it serves their own egos and ends.
Ministers make £50 million from BBC television licence fee evaders
Ministry of Justice figures show £5 million cost of prosecuting those who refuse to pay BBC licence fee dwarfed by massive fines income
By Patrick Foster, Media Correspondent
The Government makes nearly £50 million a year by prosecuting those who refuse to pay the television licence fee, according to new Ministry of Justice figures.
Around 180,000 people are prosecuted each year for failing to pay the £145.50 fee, double the number proceeded against a decade ago, and prosecutions for evasion now make up one in nine of all cases put before magistrates’ courts.
Critics of the system, including Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, have called for non-payment of the licence fee to be decriminalised, in light of the burden it places on the justice system. But a Ministry of Justice submission to a review of the future of the licence fee suggests that the government reaps a large profit from chasing evaders.
Downing Street is understood to have told Lord Hall, the BBC director-general, earlier this week that the government will back a report carried out earlier this year by David Perry, an eminent barrister, which recommended that non-payment of the licence fee should remain a criminal offence.
Ministry of Justice figures for 2013, the last full year for which details are available, show that courts imposed fines totalling £26 million on the 153,000 people found guilty of failing to pay the licence fee, with each person charged an average of £170.
The controversial new criminal courts charge, which was introduced in April and is levied against everyone convicted of a criminal offence, is likely to raise another £23 million from licence fee evaders this year, according to the submission. The estimated £49 million in fines goes towards the cost of running the courts system.
A further £20 victim surcharge levied on each offender is calculated to raise an additional £3 million, resulting in a total of around £52 million collected by the government, although the Ministry of Justice cautions that not everyone will pay.
The submission says: “The actual figure collected will be less than this, dependent on collection rates. In addition, fines are often revised once means to pay information is provided and some of the imposition will be legally cancelled or administratively written off for a variety of reasons.”
Set against the fines income is the cost of prosecuting evaders, and the expenses incurred by imprisoning those who fail to pay their fine. While the number of licence fee prosecutions continues to grow, at around four per cent a year, most courts deal with a large number of evaders in one sitting, meaning that while those accused of evasion make up 11.5 per cent of all magistrates’ court cases, they only take up 0.3 per cent of all court time.
Officials calculate that each case costs only £28 to process, making a total cost to the Courts Service of around £5 million.
The department said in its submission: “In many courts TV licence evasion cases are listed for a single sitting devoted exclusively to TV licence evasion cases. [The Courts Service] has similar procedures for hearing traffic offences which delivers efficient and effective disposal of these cases.
“The proportion of a magistrate’s workload made up in TV licence prosecutions is relatively minor and the extent to which judicial and administrative resources could be reduced limited, with minimal scope for cash savings.”
In 2013, 32 people were sent to prison for failing to pay fines imposed for licence fee evasion, although this did not result in a large financial outlay. The submission said: “The average period of committal for the 32 fine defaulters who were imprisoned for not paying their fine for TV licence evasion was approximately three weeks. Based on the average sentence served of 52 per cent of sentences of less than six months, the cost to HM Prison Service was approximately £22,000.”
Ministry of Justice figures show £5 million cost of prosecuting those who refuse to pay BBC licence fee dwarfed by massive fines income
By Patrick Foster, Media Correspondent
The Government makes nearly £50 million a year by prosecuting those who refuse to pay the television licence fee, according to new Ministry of Justice figures.
Around 180,000 people are prosecuted each year for failing to pay the £145.50 fee, double the number proceeded against a decade ago, and prosecutions for evasion now make up one in nine of all cases put before magistrates’ courts.
Critics of the system, including Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, have called for non-payment of the licence fee to be decriminalised, in light of the burden it places on the justice system. But a Ministry of Justice submission to a review of the future of the licence fee suggests that the government reaps a large profit from chasing evaders.
Downing Street is understood to have told Lord Hall, the BBC director-general, earlier this week that the government will back a report carried out earlier this year by David Perry, an eminent barrister, which recommended that non-payment of the licence fee should remain a criminal offence.
Ministry of Justice figures for 2013, the last full year for which details are available, show that courts imposed fines totalling £26 million on the 153,000 people found guilty of failing to pay the licence fee, with each person charged an average of £170.
The controversial new criminal courts charge, which was introduced in April and is levied against everyone convicted of a criminal offence, is likely to raise another £23 million from licence fee evaders this year, according to the submission. The estimated £49 million in fines goes towards the cost of running the courts system.
A further £20 victim surcharge levied on each offender is calculated to raise an additional £3 million, resulting in a total of around £52 million collected by the government, although the Ministry of Justice cautions that not everyone will pay.
The submission says: “The actual figure collected will be less than this, dependent on collection rates. In addition, fines are often revised once means to pay information is provided and some of the imposition will be legally cancelled or administratively written off for a variety of reasons.”
Set against the fines income is the cost of prosecuting evaders, and the expenses incurred by imprisoning those who fail to pay their fine. While the number of licence fee prosecutions continues to grow, at around four per cent a year, most courts deal with a large number of evaders in one sitting, meaning that while those accused of evasion make up 11.5 per cent of all magistrates’ court cases, they only take up 0.3 per cent of all court time.
Officials calculate that each case costs only £28 to process, making a total cost to the Courts Service of around £5 million.
The department said in its submission: “In many courts TV licence evasion cases are listed for a single sitting devoted exclusively to TV licence evasion cases. [The Courts Service] has similar procedures for hearing traffic offences which delivers efficient and effective disposal of these cases.
“The proportion of a magistrate’s workload made up in TV licence prosecutions is relatively minor and the extent to which judicial and administrative resources could be reduced limited, with minimal scope for cash savings.”
In 2013, 32 people were sent to prison for failing to pay fines imposed for licence fee evasion, although this did not result in a large financial outlay. The submission said: “The average period of committal for the 32 fine defaulters who were imprisoned for not paying their fine for TV licence evasion was approximately three weeks. Based on the average sentence served of 52 per cent of sentences of less than six months, the cost to HM Prison Service was approximately £22,000.”