Thanks to the Daily Mail Investigations Unit, hard evidence has been obtained of the underhand tactics deployed by the BBC’s TV Licensing gestapo, Capita.

This was nothing short of a scoop which saw a Mail journalist pose as a prospective interview candidate for “TV Licence inspector”. The interview was with Ian Doyle, Capita’s area manager for TV Licensing. The interview was secretly recorded and its revelations will be far reaching for the BBC.

In the secret video, Doyle explains the justification for driving TV Licence inspectors hard was because ‘we’re greedy’. Doyle goes on to explain the TV Licence inspector role is target driven which requires that they must ‘nick’ 28 people a week for TV Licence ‘evasion’ and get 28 conviction statements to count as a ‘sale’. Failure to do so, Doyle explained, would mean that ‘questions will be asked’. Above the 28, bonus payments would be made… The problem here is obvious: the target and commission system creates a pressure on people to cut corners in their ‘evidence’ gathering. There is ample evidence these commission driven TV Licence salesmen have indeed cut corners on numerous occasions signing people up to licences they don’t need or just plain making up ‘evidence’.

Capita’s Ian Doyle: “We’re greedy”

Already the Capita CEO has resigned following some dubious profitability figures for Capita and no doubt partly as the fall guy for the Mail story. Article here.

Predictably following this story, the BBC top brass, notably Tony Hall, feigned faux outrage at the revelations of TV Licensing abuses and demanded ‘explanations’ from the (soon to depart) Capita CEO Andy Parker. This faux outrage is not credible in the slightest. While the hard evidence gathered by the Mail from the Doyle interview was a scoop, the history of abuses by TV Licensing are commonly known and well documented. The BBC is a known frequent reader of this and other anti-TV Licence activist blogs which have highlighted TV Licence enforcement abuses for years. A casual search on YouTube with keywords ‘TV Licensing goon’ will quickly return a list of videos where homeowners have been harassed by these bullies with visits and search warrants. (Warrants I might add that are issued only exceedingly rarely and only where there has been some interaction with the homeowner. More on this later.)

The BBC was so disappointed with Capita in the past, they renewed their TV Licence contract in 2016 until 2022. (City AM: Capita awarded contract extension) The BBC is completely complicit in the TV Licence scam, but they want to pretend the grubby business of squeezing people for the £147 a year ‘fee’ doesn’t exist in all its gory and despicable detail. ‘I didn’t know’ from top BBC brass just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore.

If anyone is so naive to think another contractor would run the TV Licensing operation any differently they should think again. The TV Licensing system has ALWAYS relied on threats and intimidation of the public.

Sales operation: Capita advertisement for a Capita Field Visiting Officer. ‘…and ultimately sell’.

The most damaging secret video was in Part 2 where the underhanded tactics are exposed by Doyle openly. The most pertinent is “You’ll get all you need for a conviction statement within the first 40 secs of the conversation”. This is the most important aspect that is revealed in the videos. Having any form of contact with the Capita BBC goons and you risk giving them information that could wind you up in court on a speculative prosecution.  Always say nothing. If you opened the door by mistake, say nothing and close the door. This video lays bare that there is nothing they can do with zero information. They know it and we know it.

Bully tactics: “We have to have proof the TV is being used – go through and see what they have recorded”

Now with the price ratcheting up for the TV Licence under inflation, £147 from April 2017, more people will be questioning why they are paying. With government intransigence to abolishing or decriminalising the BBC TV Licence, we must abolish it ourselves. It is your moral duty now to resist paying the BBC TV Licence. You can still do so 100% legally: Do not watch live TV or the BBC iPlayer and have zero contact with the BBC Capita TV Licensing bullies. It really is that simple.