Look at patterns of criminal offending, and one of the first things to stand out is the differences between men and women. Men dominate when it comes to violent and sexual crime: more than four-fifths of perpetrators of violent crime are male. Not a surprise when you consider that men are more likely to be physically and sexually violent than women: so far, so straightforward.

But for one of the most minor crimes – not paying for a TV licence – the pattern reverses. Women account for three-quarters of criminal convictions for watching live TV services or BBC iPlayer without a licence, and a huge chunk of all criminal convictions against women, one-third, are for non-payment of the licence. Are women really 50% more likely to engage in evasion than men, or are they getting disproportionately lumbered with convictions?

Most people probably regard their TV licence payments as a household bill. But it is treated very differently under the law. Falling behind with energy or water bills is a civil debt matter, where best practice involves providers working with people in debt to set up an achievable repayment plan, with county court judgments to enforce payment under civil law only used as a last resort.

Falling behind on your TV licence is treated far more punitively, as a criminal offence. Like many other minor criminal offences, it is not prosecuted by the independent Crown Prosecution Service, but in this case, by the BBC.

The BBC contracts licence fee collection and enforcement out to the private company Capita. So it is Capita to which........

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