Former BBC chairman Lord Grade backs licence fee law change

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/25/former-bbc-chairman-grade-licence-fee

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Non-payment of the BBC licence fee should be decriminalised, the corporation's former chairman Lord Grade has said as MPs prepare to vote on whether to set up a review of the law.

Amid strong cross-party support for a backbench proposal to make non-payment a civil offence, Grade said it was desirable to change the law.

But Grade, who served as BBC chairman between 2004-06 after the resignation of Gavyn Davies in the wake of the Hutton report, said it was important to ensure sanctions could be imposed on people who refuse to pay the fee. He suggested it could be paid through council tax.

The former BBC chairman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is the opportunity with the charter review 2016 to look at this in some detail. I think it is desirable that it is decriminalised.

"The problem is there is no sanction. If you don't pay your phone bill they can cut you off. You can't cut off the signal at the moment.

"I am sure there is a strong feeling within the BBC that it is unfortunate that [non-payment] is a criminal activity," Grade added. "The question is what is the alternative that won't reduce the services [for existing licence fee payers]."

Labour is to support the government in a vote on Tuesday to set up a review of the law that criminalises non-payment of the fee.

Harriet Harman, the shadow culture secretary, said she believed it was wrong to send people to prison for not paying for a television licence.

She said Labour would support proposed amendments in the deregulation bill, which promise a consultation on making evasion of the licence fee a civil rather than criminal matter.

She argued that her party was a strong supporter of the public broadcaster. "The BBC is an institution of enormous importance to our culture," she said, adding that Labour would support the proposals only if the broadcaster did not suffer financially.

"We need to maintain funding for the BBC. But no one wants to see people in prison for non-payment of the television licence fee," she said.

The idea of decriminalisation has been pushed by more than 150 MPs from all parties, led by the Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen.

Many Conservatives were pushing for immediate decriminalisation, but agreed a compromise with the government allowing for a long consultation.

This pushes the decision into the next parliament and makes it more likely the law will be reconsidered as part of the BBC's charter review of 2017, meaning there is more time to investigate how much it could cost the corporation and how the shortfall would be made up.

Bridgen originally proposed making non-payment a civil offence through an amendment to the forthcoming deregulation bill. The government indicated its partial support when Oliver Heald, the solicitor general, put down a joint amendment with Bridgen that promised to review the issue. This is what will be voted on by MPs during the committee stage of the bill on Tuesday.

The BBC has raised concerns that the plan could lead to it losing £200m of revenue, but it appeared relieved that it has been given a reprieve from an instant change in the law. Responding to the government's position last week, a spokesman for the broadcaster said: "The BBC is content that this proposal balances a timely examination of this issue with a proper review of the options, while not taking any decisions prior to charter review."

A BBC Trust spokesman said: "This is an issue that should be discussed in the round, including the potential impact on licence fee income and BBC output, with any decisions made as part of the charter review process. This amendment appears to be in line with that."

The review will have to start within three months of the deregulation bill passing and take no longer than a year. Its findings will be presented to the BBC Trust as well as both houses of parliament.

Cases of people accused of evading the £145.50 fee accounted for more than one in 10 of all criminal prosecutions last year – with 155,000 convicted and fined.

The amendment, due to be voted on next week, said the review should start within three months of the deregulation act being passed and complete it no later than a year after it began.

Bridgen also calls for a move "to replace the TV licensing offences with civil monetary penalties payable to the BBC".