“The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over.”

That’s what culture secretary Nadine Dorries said after announcing the necessity of the BBC licence fee will be reviewed in the coming years.

In a statement in parliament on Monday, January 17, the Conservative minister said the licence fee will be fixed at £159 for the next two years before rising with inflation over the subsequent four years.

Taking to Twitter the day before her announcement, Dorries said: “This licence fee announcement will be the last.

“The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over.

“Time now to discuss and debate new ways of funding, supporting and selling great British content.”

What are the penalties for not paying your licence fee?

You need a licence fee if you:

watch or record programmes as they're being shown on TV or live on an online TV service, or

download or watch BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer – live, catch up or on demand.

According to TV Licensing: “You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally.

“The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay.”

TV Licensing uses a national database, visiting officers and detector vans to check if people are covered by a licence.

Do people really go to court if they don’t pay their licence fee?

We took a look through the last six months of court files available to us to see if any Berkshire residents had been mentioned in court for not paying their licence fee.

Only two people from the royal county have appeared before a judge in this time.

Andrew Taylor, of Cookham Road, Maidenhead, appeared at Reading Magistrates’ Court on September 17, 2021.

Here, he admitted he had been using a colour TV for two months without a licence.

A court file indicates the 70-year-old was served a reminder to pay his licence fee in July 2019 but failed to cough up the cash.

He was fined £60 and made to pay a £32 victim surcharge for this offence.

Four days before Taylor’s court hearing, Slough woman Leona Roach appeared at West Glamorgan Magistrates’ Court in Swansea.

The 42-year-old, of Rokesby Road, admitted to using a television without a licence.

She was fined £40 and made to pay £154 in court costs and a victim surcharge.