Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people were convicted for not paying their TV license under the provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 since 1992.

The requirement to hold, and pay for, a TV Licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004.

Parliament approved the BBC assuming the role of the TV Licensing Authority in 1991, and under the Communications Act 2003, the BBC is authorised to collect and enforce the Licence Fee by law on the government's behalf.

The TV licence fee was administered under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 until the passage of the 2003 Act.

The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for the non-payment of TV licence fees annually as part of their criminal justice statistics quarterly publications, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly

Figures for each year since 2005 up to 2021 are available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, and can be found in the following tables:

2017-2021: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1076459/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2021-v2.xlsx
2016: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063880/outcomes-by-offence-2020-revised.xlsx
2005-2015: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524326/cjs-outcomes-by-offence.xlsx

To view the relevant figures in these tables, select ‘191A Television licence evasion’ in the Offence filter.

The number of people convicted for TV licence evasion in the years between 1992 and 2004 can be found in the attached tables. Table 1 sets out the number of convictions for television licence evasion in this period under the Communications Act 2003. Table 2 sets out convictions for offences against the Wireless Telegraphy Acts, 1949 to 1967 in the same period. While television licence evasion was an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, the figures in Table 2 may include other offences under the specified Acts.