Breaking: The BBC announces details of its review into "discriminatory" prosecutions of women for the non-payment of the TV Licence fee

Press Release - APPEAL - 23rd June 2022

The BBC today announced it is conducting a new review to better understand why there is a significant gender disparity in prosecutions for TV licence evasion. The disparity has been branded as "discriminating heavily against women", "regressive" and "not fair" by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries in a recent LBC interview.

76% of all TV licensing prosecutions in 2021 were against women. TV licence prosecutions account for 30% of all female convictions, making it the most common offence for which women are being taken to court. Non-payment of the fine can result in imprisonment. 

The BBC has previously sought to investigate this gender imbalance, but since its December 2017 Report, the disproportionality has increased a further 4%, suggesting measures to improve the disparity have failed.

The corporation has agreed to carry out and publish a follow-up to its 2017 “gender disparity review” after a single mother from Essex who faced prosecution for failing to pay a fine after being caught without a TV licence threatened a judicial review of the system on the basis of sex discrimination. She was supported in bringing this claim by the law charities APPEAL and the Public Law Project (as reported in the Times in February).

Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE has been appointed as Independent Advisor to the review.

Naïma Sakande, Deputy Director of the law charity APPEAL said:

"TV Licensing convictions are a feminist issue. We have long been concerned by the staggering sex disparities in prosecuting this crime. For years women have been disproportionately bearing the burden of the BBC's enforcement scheme and it is high time that this is re-examined. On behalf of the female single parents, universal credit holders, child carers and others with the bad luck to be home when the Enforcement Officer comes knocking, we thank the BBC for agreeing to take a hard look at itself to ensure it does not discriminate against women."

Notes to editors:

COMSwomen's justice, tv licensing, bbc