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Information Rights
bbc.co.uk/foi
bbc.co.uk/privacy
Chris Greenwood
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
26 March 2019
Dear Chris
Request for Information – RFI20190356
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 26th February 2019 under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (‘the Act’) seeking the following information:
“Under the Freedom of information Act 2000 I would be interested in knowing exactly how many
TV licences have been physically cancel ed in January, February and up until the point you get to
this request (2019)
I would very much like a breakdown per day if possible, per month if not, not one combined figure,
I would very much like to see how much increase there has been since the panodrama scandal has
hit.”
Please note that “TV Licensing” is a trade mark used by companies contracted by the BBC to
administer the collection of television licence fees and enforcement of the television licensing
system. The majority of the administration of TV Licensing is contracted to Capita Business
Services Ltd (‘Capita’). Over-the-counter services are provided by PayPoint plc (‘PayPoint’) in the
UK, and by the Post Office in the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. Target Group (‘Target’) is the
supplier for the Simple Payment Plan trial. Marketing and printing services are contracted to
Proximity London Ltd. Media services are contracted to Media Planning Limited trading as Havas
Media UK. The BBC is a public authority in respect of its television licensing functions and retains
overall responsibility.
Please be advised the Act gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held
by public authorities; and that we are not required to create new information to respond to a
request, or give a judgement or opinion that is not already recorded. This is a query rather than a
request for recorded information and therefore fal s outside the scope of the Act.
By way of background, licences can be cancel ed for a variety of reasons by customers who no
longer need a licence - for example, if they have moved into an address which already has one. It
should also be noted that as at March 2018, there were more licences in force than ever before,
more than 25.8 mil ion – while the number of cancel ations has fal en by 17% since 2007/08.
TV Licensing management information is compiled by financial year and cancellations data is
reported on a monthly basis. Whilst we do have some raw data on daily cancellations, this is an
incomplete dataset because of the following reasons:
• Data on cancelled licences that were paid for using the TV Licensing payment card is
generated on a monthly basis only.
• Complete data on some cancellations, such as cancelled licences resulting in a refund, is
not available on a daily basis.
Accordingly, I am providing you with both sets of data for a complete overview: the number of
daily cancellations for the period 1st January 2019 to 26th February 2019 (inclusive) and the total
number of cancel ations in each full month. Please note that our routine information terms some
cancel ations as expired, depending on the circumstances of the cancel ation, and these are not
reported as cancelled licences.
Please note that the information we are providing relates to licences in force where the licence
has been cancel ed by TV Licensing as a result of payment failure, and by customers themselves.
Therefore these figures cannot be taken to mean solely the number of licences cancelled by
customers during this period.
Please also note that these figures do not include licences cancelled
for customers aged 74 when they turn 75 because these fal within the Over 75 free licences
category.
As you will see, there is a significant variation in cancellations on a day to day basis and the highest
number of cancel ations was on 20th February.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at
the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your reference
number. If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or see
https://ico.org.uk/. Yours sincerely
Rupinder Panesar
Freedom of Information Advisor, TV Licensing Management Team
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