Protecting who from what ?

Baroness Morgan has set the tone for the promised review of the tv licence fee by talking about 'protecting the vulnerable'. Her document setting out the terms of the consultation will be a good read; all we know so far is that the consultation will take eight weeks.

The last review, under David Perry QC, was announced in September 2014, and the public consultation lasted eleven weeks, from 12th February. We're told this time it'll take eight weeks.

In 2014, the annual number of fines for non-payment was 152,649; evasion was deemed to be 'stable' at c5.5%, and prison-sentences-for-continued non-payment stood at 39 over 12 months.  In 2018, evasion was running at 6.6%. 121,000 were fined for non-payment. Between 2015 and 2018, an estimated 50 people have spent time in jail for non-payment - but the tv licence may have been only one element of their misdemeanour.

So it's entertaining to see this new review framed as aiming to 'protect the vulnerable'.