BBC told to improve licence fee ad tone

The BBC has been told to adjust the tone of its communications with the public about licence fee collection.

A review by the BBC Trust into the methods used to collect the licence fee noted that the evasion rate has dropped from 12.7% to 5.1% since the BBC took over fee collection from the Home Office in 1991, but said that communications should target persistent evaders instead of households that do not have TV sets.

"In collecting the licence fee, the BBC must balance firmness with fairness," said BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons. "The main findings of this review are that TV Licensing needs to improve the tone of its early dealings with the public, especially households that do not have TV sets. At the same time, TV Licensing should do more to target the minority of hard core evaders to make sure that everyone who should pay, does pay."

The Trust noted that only one third of people who responded to its request for comments about licence fee collection felt that the BBC's communications about the licence fee were "polite but firm". Dipsticks Research, which analysed the public consultation results for the Trust, said that TV licence marketing was "over the top, heavy handed and intimidating".

Sir Michael has asked BBC management to produce an action plan within three months.