§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what estimate has been made of the number of unlicensed television sets in use in(a) Belfast, (b) Londonderry and (c) the remainder of Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and how many households have been prosecuted for use of an unlicensed television;
(2) what estimate has been made of the number of unlicensed television sets in use in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales in each of the past five years; and how many households have been prosecuted for use of an unlicensed television.
§ Mr. BrookeUnder section 180 and schedule 18 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, responsibility for administration of the television licensing system, including enforcement of the licensing requirement, passed to the BBC with effect from 1 April 1991. I understand from the BBC that statistics for estimated television licence evasion and prosecution rates in Northern Ireland are not broken down by area. Estimated evasion and actual prosecution rates for the financial years 1988–89 to 1992–93 for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are given in the table. The number of evaders is based on a percentage evasion rate applied to the total number of licences in force.
Estimated Number of evaders Prosecutions 1 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 England 1,291,642 153,219 Scotland 146,216 9,062 Wales 84,024 10,568 Northern Ireland 158,147 967 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1990 England 1,190,241 149,724 Scotland 143,056 9,686 Wales 82,205 11,094 Northern Ireland 144,447 1,868 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991 England 1,318,517 159,131 Scotland 155,351 11,275 Wales 94,894 10,283 Northern Ireland 150.265 2,032 1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 England 1,337,908 182,869 Scotland 146,173 12,791 Wales 97,088 10,898 Northern Ireland 129,829 2,508 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1993 England 1,381,430 166,206 Scotland 147,392 11,082 Wales 96,274 11,605 Northern Ireland 137,743 1,634