A Bill to make provision to decriminalise the non-payment of the BBC licence fee.
House of Commons
Sir Christopher ChopeConservative
17 September 2019
The Bill would stop treating non-payment of the BBC licence fee as a crime. Instead, it would use civil penalties to enforce payment, shifting enforcement away from courts and police to civil procedures, and set out how those penalties would be assessed and collected and how people can challenge them. The overall aim is to make enforcing the licence fee a civil matter rather than a criminal one.
The Bill is currently at its Second Reading in the House of Commons, with no further formal progress reported in the provided details.
Generated 21 February 2026
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
