cornwall - 9:16 am on Nov 11, 2007 (gmt 0)

The BBC license fee in itself is a strange animal

1. It was conceived at a time when only the rich could afford a radio or TV, and only a small percentage of the population could afford to own a set.

2. Today virtually 100% own a set, but we still pay a fee.

3. The license fee is expensive to collect. £152 million (or $320 million devalued dollars)

4. Wikipedia quote "Collection is enforced by criminal law. People accused of license evasion are tried in a magistrates court. Violators can be fined up to £1000. Prior to 1991, the collection and administration of the UK license fee was the responsibility of the Home Office. Since 1991, the revenue has been collected on behalf of the Government by the BBC and paid into Government's Consolidated Fund. From 1991 the fee was collected more directly by the BBC and was called the TV Licensing Authority. Since then collection has been contracted out and is now collected and enforced by TV Licensing Ltd, which is operated by Capita. As a consequence of the change the force of law in enforcing the licence has weakened somewhat[citation needed]. By 1994, 57% of all female criminal convictions in Britain related to television license evasion

Once collected, the money is then passed to the BBC via the Appropriation Act(s) where MPs vote the amounts paid to the UK's public services. During the current Charter review process, concerns were raised as to the cost of collection (£152m for 2005-2006)."

5. In order to collect the tax, a vast computer network tracks every household in Britain. They assume everyone has a set, and if an address does not pay, then the heavies come knocking on that house's door.

6. It amounts today to a stealth tax, it would be much cheaper to pay from direct tax, but I doubt that any government would do so "merely" in order to save the vast cost of collection.

7. Most people in the UK have no idea of either the cost of collection, nor of the invasion of privicy involved in tracking payment.