British Broadcasting Corporation Room BC2 A4 Broadcast Centre White City Wood Lane London W12 7TP
Telephone 020 8008 2882 Email xxx@xxx.xx.xx
Information Rights
bbc.co.uk/foi
bbc.co.uk/privacy
Mr G MacDonald
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
07 July 2021
Dear Mr MacDonald
Request for Information – RFI20211064
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 23rd June 2021 under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 (‘the Act’) seeking the following information:
“Could you give me the numbers of how many BBC licenses have been cancelled by the general
public from 2019-2020 and 2020-present (2021)”
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 Limited (‘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 Limited
(‘Target’) is the supplier for the Simple Payment Plan. Marketing and printing services are
contracted to RAPP Limited (formerly Proximity London Limited). Media services are contracted
to Havas Media Limited. The BBC is a public authority in respect of its television licensing
functions and retains overall responsibility.
I have interpreted your request as meaning customers who have cancelled their TV Licence. For
your information, licences can be cancelled 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. TV
Licensing management information is reported on a monthly basis (fol owing the end of each
month) and comprises data relating to licences in force where the licence has been cancelled by
TV Licensing as a result of payment failure
and by customers themselves.
As this does not disaggregate the number of licences solely cancelled by customers,
we do not hold recorded information that enables us to answer your specific request.
link to page 2
Under our duty to advise and assist you, please note that a monthly breakdown of all cancellations
for the last two full financial years is readily available on the TV Licensing website at
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-licences-facts-and-figures-AB181. To reiterate, the
cancellations information on the website relates to licences in force where the licence has been
cancelled 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 note that our routine information terms some cancellations as expired, depending on the
circumstances of the cancellation, and these are not reported as cancelled licences.
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. A request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of receiving the
BBC’s response to your original request.
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
1 These monthly cancel ations figures are consolidated at the end of the financial year and published each year on the
TV Licensing website, following the annual publication of the TV Licensing Annual Review in July.
2
