§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what(a) amount and (b) proportion of BBC licensing revenue was lost as a result of evasion in the last year for which figures are available. [160683]
§ Estelle MorrisAs at March 2003, the estimated television licence evasion rate was 7.2 per cent., representing approximately £205 million in lost television licence fee revenue.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for what proportion of television licence-holders the cost of their licence exceeded 2 per cent. of annual income in the last year for which figures are available. [160686]
§ Estelle MorrisThe information requested is not available since TV Licensing, who administer the television licensing system for the BBC, do not maintain statistics on the income of licence fee payers.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many persons were(a) fined and (b) imprisoned for not having a television licence in 2003. [160687]
§ Estelle MorrisHome Office figures show that 94,590 defendants were fined for offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 to 1967 (mainly television licence evasion) in England-and Wales in 2002. Figures for 2003 will be published in late Autumn.
Custodial sentences are not available for television licence evasion, the maximum penalty being a fine. However, custodial sentences can be imposed for non-payment of such a fine. In 2003, 17 males and three females received custodial sentences for defaulting on the payment of a fine for TV Licence evasion.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many prosecutions there were for offences connected with television licensing in 2003. [160684]
§ Estelle MorrisTV Licensing, who administer the television licensing system for the BBC, gather these figures on a financial year basis. 149,000 people were prosecuted during 2002–03.