Editor's Note - Sian Healey is Head of Communications and Policy for TV Licensing. In this post she writes about the 主播大秀's use of RIPA - the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
I wanted to correct some news reports this week that wrongly stated that the 主播大秀 is one of several public bodies refusing to disclose whether they use the , the legislation which regulates the use of surveillance.
The story originated from , which sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to public bodies asking a number of questions, including how many times these powers have been used and for which offences. The report noted that a number of public authorities, including the 主播大秀, "refuse to disclose how often, for what purpose and what type of surveillance they have undertaken".
In our response to we were entirely open about the fact that the 主播大秀 does use these powers through its team to detect evasion, a criminal offence. This happens only as a last resort when other less intrusive enforcement methods have been exhausted. This information has been confirmed by the 主播大秀 on many occasions in the past and is documented on the .
However, we do not release details of exactly how and when detection is used. This is in order to ensure that people without a TV licence do not use this information to their advantage when attempting to evade the licence fee.
As these reports correctly state, the use of RIPA is perfectly legal. It is also worth noting that the 主播大秀 is inspected every two years by the , the independent body which monitors legal compliance of RIPA. Their two most recent reports praised the responsible and professional way in which the 主播大秀 conducts RIPA investigations.
The 主播大秀's sole use of RIPA is to detect TV Licence evasion on behalf of the vast majority of the population (95%) who pay their licence. Used responsibly, transparently and when there is no other option, we value the legislation as a useful way of helping to reduce evasion levels still further and enforce the law.
Sian Healey is Head of Communications and Policy for TV Licensing