Imprisionment Of Tv Licence Fine Defaulters
EDM number 287 in 1995-96, proposed by Alex Carlile on 16/01/1996.
That this House notes the continuing prosecutons for TV licence evasion which lead to imprisonment for fine default; notes that failing to pay the TV licence fee is the only type of payment, in the normal range of family consumption, for which a householder can be criminally prosecuted and imprisoned; notes that legal aid is not available for those prosecuted; notes that people prosecuted for TV licence evasion tend to be disproportionately poor, female, unemployed and single-parent with 278 women being imprisoned in 1993, over 7.5 per cent. of the total number of women imprisoned in 1993; notes that despite trials there is still not a cash based method of instalment credit payment for TV licences; believes that imprisonment resulting from the non-payment of fines imposed for the non-payment of a TV licence is an inefficient, unusually severe and counter-productive means of dealing with non-payment; believes that courts should first try to recover fines as a civil debt, as in Scotland, where imprisonment for TV licence-generated fine default is rare while purchasing rates of TV licences are similar to England and Wales; and calls on the Government as a matter of priority to either ensure that all possible means of civil debt recovery are pursued by the courts or to amend the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 to decriminalise the offence.
This motion has been signed by a total of 49 MPs.
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