Written question asked by Christopher Chope (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 November 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 3 December 2002. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 December 2002 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions in the last 12 months the BBC has paid goodwill cheques to the victims of maladministration of licence fee collection.

Answer: Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions in the last 12 months the BBC has paid goodwill cheques to the victims of maladministration of licence fee collection. [84468] Dr. Howells: Neither the BBC nor TV Licensing are subject to the powers of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and there are therefore no formal findings of maladministration against the BBC or TV Licensing. However, TV Licensing operates its own complaints procedures and if a member of the public remains unsatisfied with the outcome the BBC will also consider the complaint. Goodwill payments in relation to the administration of the television licensing system are made by TV Licensing rather than the BBC. Information on the number of such payments is available only for the period since Capita took over the TV Licensing contract in July this year. From July to October 2002, TV Licensing made a total of 825 goodwill payments.

Secondary information