§ 8. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will make a further statement 399 on the progress of his campaign to reduce the numbers of television licence evaders.
§ Mr. ChatawayThis year's campaign will last until the spring of 1972, and a final assessment cannot be made until then. However, in the first towns visited, the number of new licences taken out is reported to have been, on average, more than three times higher than it normally is.
§ Mr. HamiltonI am obliged for that answer, but will the right hon. Gentleman give his latest estimate of the revenue currently being lost through evasion? Would it not be much better if he decided to spend an extra £2 million on this purpose rather than the £2 million he proposes to spend on the introduction of commercial radio, which very few people seem to want?
§ Mr. ChatawayThere is no comparison between those expenditures, since one is a loan and the other is an expenditure. I shall, if I may, send to the hon. Gentleman the up-to-date figure of sums lost to the B.B.C. through licence evasion. It is still the case that money spent on anti-evasion is yielding a return at least seven times greater than the expenditure.