TV LICENSING AUTHORITY FAILING THE COMMUNITY
March 21, 2007 3:23 PM
The fallout from Paypoint winning the six year TV licence from the Post Office continues to be felt by rural communities. Additionally the BBC's TV licencing collection tactics are being seen as increasingly heavy handed. The BBC claims that the removal of the over-the-counter services from the Post Office will save over £100m and was driven by declining over-the-counter sales.
'I am aware that some residents in rural areas, such as Challacombe, now have round trips of up to 20 miles as a result of the removal of the TV licence renewal from the Post Office,' says Nick Harvey.
In response a TV Licensing Authority (TLA) spokesman stated: 'Just over 94% of rural Post Offices are within five miles of a Paypoint outlet. Paypoint would be happy to locate outlets within Post Office branches, but restrictions imposed by the post Office itself currently prevent this.'
Paypoint states it has 17,000 outlets, almost 1,400 more than the Post office, but this does not necessarily mean the footprint is the same. Paypoints network includes stores include Co-op, One Stop, Spare Londis, Costcutter, Texaco, Somerfield. The BBC claims that the TLA is an efficient organisation which maximises licence fee revenue.
'I have received a growing number of complaints,' adds Nick Harvey, 'regarding the perceived heavy-handed almost bullying tactics of TV Licensing Authority (TLA) when it comes to collecting the fee. These have included hounding OAPs who are entitled to free licences. I would like to think this is acase of incompetence rather than deliberate malice.
'The TLA's threatening tone in its correspondence, reinforced by the recent Big Brother is watching advertising campaign, does seem to be engendering a growing level of resentment. Surely this heavy handedness, if allowed to continue will undoubtedly impugn the reputation of the BBC and the whole issue of public subscription.
'This state of affairs remains far from satisfactory,' concludes Nick Harvey, 'and I am currently raising this with Shaun Woodward MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture Media and Sport.'
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