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Equality
Equality and TV Licensing
TV Licensing is committed to equality and diversity and is engaged in ongoing work to improve the quality and accessibility of the service for its customers, in line with the public sector equality duties outlined below.
Our work in this area is aligned with the objectives set out in the BBC’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2016-2020 and is managed under the governance of the TV Licensing Equality Forum and other working groups.
We aim to address the individual requirements of all our customers. We also have a number of provisions to make it easier for customers to contact us and manage their TV Licence, such as information in different languages and alternative formats. Further information on assistance available can be found on our Accessibility page.
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 consolidated various pieces of legislation including:
- the Race Relations Act 1976
- the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- the Sex Discrimination Act 1975
There are 9 protected characteristics covered by the Act. These are:
1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Marriage and civil partnership
5. Pregnancy and maternity
6. Race
7. Religion or belief
8. Sex
9. Sexual orientation.
The Equality Act places a statutory duty on public authorities in how they exercise their functions. This requires organisations to have ’due regard’ to the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
Gender Disparity report
The gender disparity report was undertaken by the BBC following a recommendation from the government-commissioned review into Licence Fee enforcement by David Perry Q.C. (published 2015). The review recommended the BBC and the DCMS explore ways to investigate and consider the gender disparity in TV Licence prosecutions. The review found that there was a disparity in the proportion of men and women being prosecuted for licence fee evasion but further found that “There is no evidence of any discriminatory enforcement practices on the part of TV Licensing”.