Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women were serving custodial sentences for non-payment of (i) a television licence, (ii) vehicle excise duty and (iii) council tax on 1 March 2014.

Jeremy Wright

The offences of using a TV receiver without a valid licence and of failure to hold a valid vehicle excise duty licence (tax disc) are not punishable by imprisonment, so offenders cannot be sentenced to custody for these offences. Failing to pay council tax is not a criminal offence. Accordingly, there were no men or women serving custodial sentences on 1 March 2014 for non-payment of a TV licence, vehicle excise duty or council tax.