The Communications
(Television Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 2007
Registered by the Royal Court 23rd March 2007
Coming into force 1st
April 2007
THE SECRETARY OF STATE makes the following Regulations in exercise
of the powers conferred by sections 365(1) and (4), 368 and 402(3) of the
Communications Act 2003, as extended by the Communications (Jersey) Order 2003,[1] the Broadcasting and Communications
(Jersey) Order 2004[2], the Communications (Bailiwick of
Guernsey) Order 2003, the Communications (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Order 2004 and
the Communications (Isle of Man) Order 2003 –
To
the extent that these Regulations are made under section 365 of the
Communications Act 2003, they are made with the consent of the Treasury in
accordance with subsection (6) of that section.
1 Citation,
commencement and extent
(1) These
Regulations may be cited as the Communications (Television Licensing) (Amendment)
Regulations 2007 and come into force on 1st April 2007.
(2) These
Regulations extend to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
2 Amendment
of the 2004 Regulations
The Communications (Television
Licensing) Regulations 2004[3] (“the 2004 Regulations”) are amended as set out in
Regulations 3 to 12 of these Regulations.
3 Amendment
of regulation 2
In regulation 2(1), after the definition of “caravan”
insert –
“ “digital
set top box” means a television receiver whose function is to receive
television programmes in digital form, and which cannot itself display, or
record or otherwise store such programmes;”.
4 Amendment
of regulation 3
After regulation 3(3), add –
(4) In the first and third entries in
column 2 of the table in Schedule 1, a reference to –
(a) installing a black and white television
receiver includes a reference to installing a digital set top box in such a way
that it can only be used to cause television programmes to be displayed on a
television set or monitor that can display them in black and white only; and
(b) using a black and white television receiver
includes a reference to using a digital set top box installed as described in
this paragraph.”.
5 Amendment
of regulation 5
(1) For
regulation 5(2)(a) substitute –
“(a) show that he is registered as
blind by means of a certificate or other document issued by or on behalf
of –
(i) a
local authority in Great Britain,
(ii) a
Health and Social Services Trust in Northern Ireland, or
(iii) the
Department of Health and Social Security for the Isle of Man; or”.
(2) For
regulation 5(3) substitute –
“(3) A person is not required to
provide the evidence referred to in paragraph (2) to obtain the blind
concession in respect of a TV licence where that person has previously
established an entitlement to the concession by providing the evidence referred
to in that paragraph and –
(a) the evidence was provided within the period
of 5 years ending on the date on which the licence is issued, or
(b) the BBC are satisfied that the evidence
previously provided is sufficient to establish the person’s entitlement
to the concession as at that date.”.
(3) In
the definition of “local authority” in regulation 5(5), omit
“and” and omit paragraph (d).
6 Amendment
of regulation 8
In regulation 8, before the definition of “members of the
public” insert –
“ “digital
set top box” has the same meaning as in Part 2;”.
7 Amendment
of regulation 9
In regulation 9 –
(a) in paragraph (1), for “In”
substitute “Subject to paragraph (2), in”;
(b) after paragraph (1),
insert –
“(2) But a digital set top box is
not a television receiver for the purposes of that Part if it is installed in
such a way that it can be used only to cause the production of sound through a
device whose functions are limited to the production, or the production and
recording, of sound.”;
(c) paragraph
(2) becomes paragraph (3).
8 Amendment
of Schedule 1
In Schedule 1 (Issue fees for TV licences) –
(a) for
“£44.00” in each place where it occurs substitute
“£45.50”;
(b) for
£131.50” in each place where it occurs substitute
“£135.50”;
(c) in
paragraph (b) in the second column (‘Description of licence’)
of each of the entries numbered 1 and 2 in the table (‘TV licence (black
and white only) General Form’ and ‘TV licence (including colour)
General Form’) –
(i) for the words
from “being” (where it first occurs) to “location”
(where it first occurs) substitute –
“(i) being
used or occupied by the licensee or by a person normally living with the
licensee at the specified location, or
(ii) if
the specified location is a business premises, being used or occupied for the purposes
of the business by a person who normally works at that location”;
(ii) after
“provided that”, insert “, in a case falling within (i)
above,”;
(d) in
paragraph (b) in the second column (‘Description of licence’)
of each of the entries in the table numbered 3 and 4 (‘TV licence (black
and white only) Multiple Form’ and ‘TV licence (including colour)
Multiple Form’) –
(i) for
the words from “being” (where it first occurs) to
“locations” (where it first occurs) substitute –
“(i) being
used or occupied by the licensee or by a person normally living at one of the
specified locations, or
(ii) if
a business is carried on from one or more of the specified locations, being
used or occupied for the purposes of the business by a person who normally
works at one of those locations”;
(ii) after
“provided that”, insert “, in a case falling within (i)
above,”.
9 Amendment
of Schedule 2
(1) Schedule 2
(Fees for TV licences payable by instalments) is amended as follows.
(2) In
paragraph 2(1), for “£34.14” and
“£34.12” substitute, respectively, “£35.14”
and “£35.12”.
(3) In
each of paragraphs 5(1) and 6(1), for “2006” substitute
“2007”.
(4) For
table 1 substitute table 1 in the Schedule to these Regulations.
(5) For
table 2 substitute table 2 in the Schedule to these Regulations.
(6) In
paragraph 7(6) –
(a) in
paragraph (b) for “2006” substitute “2007”; and
(b) for
“£76.75” and “£10.95” substitute,
respectively, “£79.05” and “£11.29”.
(7) For
table 3 substitute table 3 in the Schedule to these Regulations.
(8) For
paragraph 8(2) substitute –
“(2) A licence of the type
referred to in sub-paragraph (1) is a licence of the same description as
that given in the second entry of column 2 of the table in
Schedule 1, but where payment for the licence is to be made in instalments
as provided in this Part.”.
(9) In
paragraph 9 –
(a) for
paragraph (c) substitute –
“(c) the amount of the first 10 of
those instalments is to be £5.50 and the amount of each of the remaining
15 instalments is to be £5.00.”
(10) In
paragraph 11 –
(a) in
sub-paragraph (1) for “£66.50” substitute
“£70.50”;
(b) in
sub-paragraph (2) for “£54.00” substitute
“£57.50”;
(c) in
sub-paragraph (3) for “£47.00” substitute
“£49.00”;
(d) in
sub-paragraph (4) for “£37.50” substitute
“£38.00”;
(e) in
sub-paragraph (6) for “£9.50” substitute
“£10.00”.
(11) In
paragraph 12(1) for “£66.50” substitute
“£70.50”.
(12) In
paragraph 13 –
(a) in
sub-paragraph (1) for “£54.00” substitute
“£57.50”;
(b) for
sub-paragraph (2)(a) to (d), substitute –
“(a) sub-paragraph (2)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for each of the 10 instalments to be
£7.80.
(b) sub-paragraph (3)(b) is to have effect
as if it provided for the first 6 of the instalments to be £10.00, and
the remaining 2 instalments to be £9.00.
(c) sub-paragraph (4)(b) is to have effect
as if it provided for the amount of each of the 6 instalments to be
£13.00.
(d) sub-paragraph (5)(b) is to have effect
as if it provided for the amount of each of the 4 instalments to be
£19.50.”
(13) In
paragraph 14 –
(a) in
sub-paragraph (1) for “£47.00” substitute
“£49.00”;
(b) in
sub-paragraph (2)(a) for “£8.50” and
“£8.00” substitute, respectively, “£8.70”
and “£8.20”;
(c) in
sub-paragraph (2)(b) for “£10.60” and
“£10.30” substitute, respectively, “£10.90”
and “£10.20”;
(d) in
sub-paragraph (2)(c) for “£14.10” substitute
“£14.50”;
(e) in
sub-paragraph (2)(d) for “£21.20” and
“£19.90” substitute, respectively, “£21.70”
and “£21.40”.
(14) In
paragraph 15 –
(a) in
sub-paragraph (1) for “£37.50” substitute
“£38.00”;
(b) for
sub-paragraph (2)(a) substitute –
“(a) sub-paragraph (2)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for the amount of each of the first
9 instalments to be £9.80 and the amount of the final instalment to
be £9.30;”;
(c) in
sub-paragraph (2)(b) for “£11.80” and
“£11.40” substitute, respectively, “£12.20”
and “£12.10”;
(d) in
sub-paragraph (2)(c) for “£15.70” and
“£15.50” substitute, respectively, “£16.30”
and “£16.00”;
(e) for
sub-paragraph (2)(d) substitute –
“(d) sub-paragraph (5)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for the amount of each of the first
3 instalments to be £24.40 and the amount of the final instalment to
be £24.30.”.
(15) In
paragraph 16 –
(a) for
sub-paragraph (2)(a) substitute –
“(a) sub-paragraph (2)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for the amount of each of the instalments to
be £11.00;”;
(b) in
sub-paragraph (2)(b) for “£13.30” and
“£12.90” substitute, respectively, “£13.80”
and “£13.40”;
(c) in
sub-paragraph (2)(c) for “£17.70” and
“£17.50” substitute, respectively, “£18.40”
and “£18.00”;
(d) in
sub-paragraph (2)(d) for “£26.50” substitute
“£27.50”.
(16) In
paragraph 17 –
(a) in
sub-paragraph (1) for “£9.50” substitute
“£10.00”;
(b) for
sub-paragraph (2)(a) substitute –
“(a) sub-paragraph (2)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for the amount of each of the first
9 instalments to be £12.60 and the amount of the final instalment to
be £12.10;”;
(c) in
sub-paragraph (2)(b) for “£15.30” and
“£14.90” substitute, respectively, “£15.70”
and “£15.60”;
(d) in
sub-paragraph (2)(c) for “£20.40” and
“£20.00” substitute, respectively, “£21.00”
and “£20.50”;
(e) for
sub-paragraph (2)(d) substitute –
“(d) sub-paragraph (5)(b) is
to have effect as if it provided for the amount of each of the first
3 instalments to be £31.40 and the amount of the final instalment to
be £31.50.”.
10 Amendment
of Schedule 3
(1) In
the table in Part 1 of Schedule 3 (Fees for interim TV licences) for
“3.666” and “£10.958” substitute, respectively,
“£3.791” and “£11.291”.
(2) In
paragraph 1(5)(b) of Part 2 of that Schedule (Interim TV licence
(including colour): payment by instalments) for “£131.50”
substitute “£135.50”.
11 Amendment
of Schedule 4
(1) In
paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 (Accommodation for residential care
licences) for “£5.00” wherever occurring substitute
“£7.50”.
(2) In paragraph (a)
of the definition of “resident” in paragraph 3(1) of that
Schedule omit “ordinarily”.
12 Amendment
of Schedule 5
In Schedule 5 (TV licence fees for hotels and hospitality
areas, and mobile units) –
(a) in
paragraph 1 –
(i) for
the definition of “hotel” substitute –
“ “hotel”
means any establishment (including an inn, guest house, holiday camp, caravan
site or camp site) within the same premises or, as the case may be, on the same
site which (whether or not it also provides other services) offers
accommodation consisting wholly or mainly of units of overnight accommodation
for guests staying for no longer than 28 consecutive nights;”;
(ii) after
the definition of “units” add –
“ “unit of
overnight accommodation” in relation to a hotel means all or part of any
roofed or covered building or structure designed, adapted or offered for human
habitation and –
(a) includes a caravan, mobile home, movable
dwelling, tent or other like structure, but
(b) does not include land (whether or not
provided with services) on which guests are permitted to place such structures
not offered to them by the hotel;”;
(b) for
“£44.00” in each place where it occurs substitute
“£45.50”; and
(c) for
“£131.50” in each place where it occurs substitute
“£135.50”.
13 Saving
and transitional provisions
(1) Subject
to paragraph (2), in relation to a TV licence issued before 1st April 2007
Schedules 1 to 3 and 5 to the 2004 Regulations continue to have effect without
the amendments made by these Regulations.
(2) But –
(a) those
Schedules as amended by regulations 3, 4, 8(c) and (d) and 11(2); and
(b) regulation 9
of the 2004 Regulations as amended by regulation 7
have effect in relation to a TV licence issued before that date.
shaun woodward
Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State
Department for Culture,
Media and Sport
5th March 2007
We consent to the making of these Regulations to the extent that
they are made under section 365 of the Communications Act 2003.
alan campbell
dave watts
Two of the Commissioners
of Her Majesty’s Treasury
6th March 2007