Justice secretary says decriminalisation, which BBC says could cost it £200m a year, could ease caseload of magistrates courts

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Michael Gove, the justice secretary, has raised concern that prosecutions for non-payment of the BBC licence are overburdening the courts.

He has discussed the issue with John Whittingdale, the culture secretary, who is considering whether evasion of the licence fee should be decriminalised.

Before the election Whittingdale’s predecessor, Sajid Javid, set up a review to look into the potential impact of decriminalisation, and just after the election Downing Street indicated that it backed such a change, potentially replacing the offence with a civil fine.

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However, since then Whittingdale has had second thoughts over the possible impact on the BBC’s finances, after receiving the official review. The corporation has argued that it could lose up to £200m a year in extra non-payment.

In a sign of a possible cabinet split, it is understood that Gove has now made his case to Whittingdale about how decriminalisation could ease the caseload of magistrates courts. TV licence prosecutions account for 180,000 out of 1.5m magistrate cases each year.

In evidence to the justice select committee in July, Gove said: “To what extent can we lift the burden on magistrates by taking some work out of court? One area which is a live area of debate is whether or not, at the bottom of the magistrates courts’ work, television licence non-payment should be decriminalised.”

No decision on whether to decriminalise the licence fee has yet been taken by Whittingdale. A spokesman for Gove declined to comment.

A BBC spokesman said: “The government’s own evidence-based review

found that licence fee evasion should not be decriminalised and that

the current system is broadly fair, proportionate and provides good

value for both licence fee payers and taxpayers.”