Yahoo News BBC spends £169m chasing TV licence dodgers in 'blatant waste of money'
The BBC has splashed out a hefty £169 million in attempts to trace TV licence evaders, sparking outrage over what's been labelled as clear "wasting of money". BBC has outsourced the heavy task to Whistl and Royal Mail with an annual contract sum of £33.8 million for a period of five years.
In terms of licence fees, this expenditure is nearly equivalent to 200,000 per year. Joanna Marchong, of the TaxPayers Alliance, expressed her strong opinion on the issue: "Struggling households will be furious with this blatant waste of money by the Beeb. Auntie has opted for a contract with an exorbitant price tag, in an attempt to prop up the out-dated licence fee."
She added, "By scrapping the hated tv tax and replacing it with a subscription service there would be no need for these threatening letters."
A spokesperson for TV Licensing responded, stating: "While we continue to encourage customers to move to paperless communication and e-licences, letters remain a highly cost-effective way of reminding people they may need a TV Licence, and these costs are driven by postage charges."
Furthermore, they said: "The contract amount covers five years and will ensure best value to efficiently collect the licence fee."
Tristan Kirk, of the Evening Standard ,has reportedly recently taken to Twitter/X highlighting the unjust targeting of specific fare-dodgers, reports Birmingham Live.
In a series of tweets, the journalist highlighted a troubling case: "A woman from Greater Manchester with a psychotic disorder who fell behind on her bills during a manic episode. Prosecuted for not paying her TV Licence. It's #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. In the Single Justice Procedure, prosecutors don't see the mitigation."
He expressed his frustration, saying: "Not much awareness there."
He continued: "The magistrate obviously did see the mitigation and gave her a one-month conditional discharge That's a sign that they considered this a needless prosecution But the woman still gets criminal conviction plus £66 costs."
He concluded with a call to action: "It's time for change, to stop cases like this getting to court."
