§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many reminders are sent by the TV Licensing Authority to households that are not recorded as holding licences and at what cost in the latest year for which figures are available. [10665]
§ Dr. HowellsFor the financial year 2000–01, the Television Licensing Authority sent 16,602,766 mail items to households that were not recorded as holding television licences. This does not include reminder letters which were sent to households where the licence was about to expire or had just expired.
The cost of this type of mailing is not readily available. The Corporation finds direct mailing the most cost-effective way of contacting television licence fee payers and seeks to maximise, wherever possible, bulk discounts with Royal Mail.