Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

In 2015/16 the number of households without a TVL was 5%. In 2017/18 this had increased to 7% so, according to the Express newspaper, the BBC is to have a crackdown on evaders through the use of 'better field enforcement activities' and 'improved identification of false no licence needed declarations'. The BBC originally wanted to reduce this to 3.95% by next year, but say that they have revised this to a more realistic goal of 6% by 2021.

The NAO go on to say that 'the failure to reduce evasion remain a concern after measures to halt the rise have so far failed to reduce the offending rate'. I presume by this they are referring to the decision to make use of the iPlayer a licensable activity.

In response TVL insisted that 'evasion has remained broadly stable over the last three years with a jump linked to new methodology and that changes of less that 1% are not statistically significant'. This statement then begs the question as to why there is a need for a crackdown at all then!

It's worth remembering that, when the percentage of homes was 5%, the BBC estimated that only 1 in 5 of these homes were evading the TVL, with the rest legitimately not needing a licence. I've no idea how many are currently estimated to be evading the fee.

Also, despite the percentage of unlicensed properties increasing, I believe that because of population growth, the actual number of licences purchased must surely have increased.

For some reason I can't post the link to the source, but if anyone wants to read it just search for 'Express BBC crackdown'.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

All the more reason for the licence to be abolished in favour of subscriptions. Problem solved, without detector vans!

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Bless...

Loved this line from the Express article https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/10...l-Audit-Office

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Not quite sure what you are getting at, but clearly, the difficulty and ongoing resentment caused by the licence fee would be removed in a stroke with a subscription based BBC.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

It is a daft thing to say though as it's like saying a proportion of council tax is wasted on collecting it!

Even going subscription would incur administration costs.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

My point was that the Beeb would not need to worry about people not paying their licence fee and sending those ridiculous vans around to homes that did not have a licence. If they don’t pay a subscription, they simply won’t get the service. Much simpler and less controversial.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

There never were detector vans, oh there were/are vans (26 at current count) with TV detector written on the side and an impressive but ineffective antenna but inside there was/is nothing. No kit, nothing! They exist merely to threaten the proles.

Whilst in the old valve/CRT TV days it was possible to detect a TV by emissions from the line scan output. These days no way.

"Detection" consists of looking through windows and listening through letterboxes. :D

It's a pointless effort as the numbers without TV licences will continue to climb as people shun broadcast TV and know how to deal with TVL.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Oh yes there were, They detected the first intermediate frequency leaking back out through the home's TV aerial. Now they detect signals going to the LCD panel, although they can't tell what you are receiving.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Well call me a sceptic but on the whole internet there is not one picture or data on the equipment that may, or may not, be inside a TV detector van. It's a total myth.

Secrets just aren't that secret.

Another factor is that in the absence of corroborative evidence remote sensing is inadmissible in a UK court.

The 7% figure is proof of the fact that "enforcement" is failing.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Around 2% of all U.K. vehicles are untaxed - is that proof car tax enforcement is failing?

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

In much the same way as you can cure a migraine with a bullet to the head.

The reasons why a subscription paywall is not the optimal funding model for an organisation with the size and reach of the BBC have been discussed exhaustively elsewhere on this forum, multiple times.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

The way car tax is therse days, the DVLA knows exactly when a car is not taxed, and who owns the vehicle. But people just change addresses and don't tell the DVLA, so the fines can't get to them. But Big Brother is waking even more, and soon they will be traced instantly using other agencies' databases.

---------- Post added at 17:05 ---------- Previous post was at 17:00 ----------

A very old version of the van...

http://www.lightstraw.co.uk/ate/tec/tvdv1.html

---------- Post added at 17:08 ---------- Previous post was at 17:05 ----------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LweldrmZh50

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Yes, it is. The tax should be added to the cost of fuel rather than applied to vehicles.

---------- Post added at 18:50 ---------- Previous post was at 18:48 ----------

On which, of course, we disagree!

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Apparently, the reason given for any evidence from detector vans never being submitted to a court is because the defence would then be able to question this evidence and this would reveal how they work. As they don't want this to get out, it's never included when prosecuting.

As for whether they are real or not, I think it's a bit of both. I know a trustworthy person who says he's been in one, but that they are extremely expensive to kit out. It's widely believed that most of them are dummy vans and it's a fact that, whenever a real (or dummy) van is parked in an area, there is a surge in licenses purchased in the relevant area!

---------- Post added at 19:27 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

I agree. I think that petrol tax should be increased and the tax abolished. This would virtually wipe out evasion, reduce administrative costs and ensure that those who use the roads less (which is to be encouraged) pay less and those who create more wear and tear on the roads pay more.

The only problem with this is that those who have to use the roads more eg the disabled, those who live in rural areas etc would be penalised through no fault of their own. The mobility component of PIP could be increased to compensate the disabled, but I'm not sure how those who live in rural areas would be compensated.

Re: Crackdown as the number of homes without a TV licence increases to 7%.
 

Transferring the tax to fuel is also fairer, because this would recognise that the more you travelled, the more you paid. A disability badge could be provided to reduce the cost for disabled people, if necessary.

The tax system does need a shake up and the BBC is a good example of how it is not working and is not accepted by so many people, who either evade it altogether or are simply resentful of the charge because they don't use BBC output.