BBC Licence Fee (Civil Penalty) Bill

A Bill to make provision to decriminalise the non-payment of the BBC licence fee.

Originating House

House of Commons

Sponsor

Sir Christopher ChopeConservative

Parliament last updated

4 May 2021

In Plain English

AI-generated

May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.

This bill would stop treating non-payment of the BBC licence fee as a criminal offence. Instead, enforcement would move to civil penalties and civil debt collection, removing the option of criminal prosecutions for licence fee non-payment. The aim is to shift how non-payment is dealt with from criminal law to civil enforcement.

Key Points

Decriminalises non-payment of the BBC licence fee.
Moves enforcement to civil penalties and civil debt collection rather than criminal prosecutions.
Affects licence fee payers, including households and small businesses that require a licence.

Who is affected?

BBC licence fee payers (households and small businesses)People who fall behind on the licence fee and could face civil penaltiesPeople who would previously have faced criminal prosecutions for licence fee non-payment

Generated 21 February 2026

Bill Stages

1st readingCommons

10 Feb 2020

2nd readingCommons

Committee stageCommons

Report stageCommons

3rd readingCommons

1st readingLords

2nd readingLords

Committee stageLords

Report stageLords

3rd readingLords

Royal Assent

Updates & Documents

News (1)

News - BBC Licence Fee (Civil Penalty)

1 Jan 1970

The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress.

Parliamentary Votes (0)

No recorded votes for this bill yet.