BBC Attacked For Failing To Control Licence Fee Evasion

The BBC has been urged to do more to catch television licence-fee dodgers, according to a new report from the all-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to the report, two million people are failing to pay the annual fee of £112, which is believed to be costing the BBC around £200 million. Officials investigating suspect fee evasion failed to track down households in four out of five visits.

The committee also criticised the BBC’s lack of accountability, claiming that the National Audit Office (NAO) should be allowed access to the Corporation’s financial records. The BBC’s argument that scrutiny by the NAO and the PAC would interfere with editorial independence was also routinely dismissed. The PAC has used the example of universities which are routinely monitored without compromising academic freedom.

In response to the report, a spokesperson for the BBC commented: “Successive Governments have agreed that the examination of the BBC’s accounts by independent auditors rather than the National Audit Office is necessary to avoid the potential for any political influence which would endanger the impartiality and freedom of the Corporation to carry out its public service remit.”

Critics of the BBC have argued that its failure to allow the NAO to scrutinise its finances has nothing to do with editorial independence and everything to do with the Corporation’s embarrassment at its financial mismanagement and extravagances and the expense of licence fee payers.

However, both the PAC report and the BBC agree on one thing, that those who do pay their license fee are unfairly subsiding those who do not. According to the BBC: “Evasion penalises the honest majority by making less money available to spend on programmes and it is our job to ensure that those who do pay should not be disadvantaged by those who don’t. Licence fee evasion is against the law and although we would prefer people to pay than be prosecuted, we will continue to pursue evaders, while offering easy payment methods to those who need them.”

BBC: 020 8743 8000www.bbc.co.uk

Recent Television Stories from NewsLine BBC’s Fame Academy Finishes On A High Note Ginger Television Secures First ITV1 Series ITC Rulings Suggest Increasing Homophobia In Ads

Subscribers can access ten years of NewsLine articles by clicking the Search button to the left