The requested information is shown in the following tables.
2006 2007 2008 North East 8,640 7,814 10,107 North West 25,079 24,839 23,578 Yorkshire and Humberside 12,663 13,561 8,254 East Midlands 8,126 9,477 10,566 West Midlands 12,666 13,751 15,698 East of England 8,280 7,976 7,363 London 14,845 17,860 15,642 South East 7,459 8,423 10,117 South West 6,627 7,100 7,465 Wales 9,600 9,313 8,332 Notes: 1. The TV licensing provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 were replaced by new provisions in the Communications Act 2003 which came into effect on 1 April 2004. 2. These are the numbers fined against for all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act which mainly but not exclusively covers TV licensing offences. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice
Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for television licence evasion, by Government office region, England and Wales, 2006-081, 2200632007420084North East9,4078,45610,342North West27,15326,65725,536Yorkshire and Humberside14,28314,82013,080East Midlands9,22110,53411,111West Midlands14,23415,14717,425East of England9,6429,1458,458London19,30822,79119,583South East8,8059,78611,780South West7,6168,1398,165Total England119,669125,475125,480Wales10,46110,0739,064Total Wales10,46110,0739,064Total England and Wales130,130135,548134,544 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.3 As well as television licence evasion, these data include proceedings for summary offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 to 1967.4 These figures relate to the offence of television licence evasion under the Communications Act 2003.Source:Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.
These data are presented on the principal offence basis: where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence, the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed; where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences, the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
In 2008, 5,272 people in Northern Ireland were prosecuted for non-payment of the television licence fee and 4,118 fines imposed.
In 2007, 5901 people were prosecuted and 4,464 fines imposed.
Corresponding information for 2006 is not available.
Information is not collected by local authority area or by constituency. However, the following table shows information for 2007 and 2008 for magistrates courts across Northern Ireland:
Magistrates court office Number of defendants Number of fines Belfast 1,573 1,204 Newtownards 188 154 Downpatrick 136 110 Craigavon 330 264 Armagh 181 127 Banbridge 52 37 Omagh 149 103 Strabane 91 69 Antrim 221 172 Londonderry 694 493 Enniskillen 114 89 Coleraine 305 233 Newry 362 245 Limavady 252 198 Magherafelt 94 74 Ballymena 262 186 Bangor 147 115 Larne 93 62 Lisburn 387 308 Dungannon 270 221 Total 5,901 4,464
Magistrates court office Number of defendants Number of fines Belfast 1,620 1,334 Newtownards 264 212 Downpatrick 116 97 Craigavon 330 255 Armagh 231 171 Banbridge 76 53 Omagh 154 98 Strabane 75 51 Antrim 105 75 Londonderry 384 313 Enniskillen 125 87 Coleraine 277 213 Newry 319 223 Limavady 102 72 Magherafelt 81 64 Ballymena 168 134 Bangor 150 100 Larne 67 53 Lisburn 345 279 Dungannon 283 234 Total 5,272 4,118