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Around one in ten over 75s are still refusing to pay the licence fee two years after it was imposed by the corporation. Ms Donelan thinks none should ever face being fined or prosecuted over failing to pay the £159 annual bill.

The Cabinet minister is also frustrated at the high number of women who end up in court after being pursued for non-payment.

Campaigners have written to Ms Donelan in frustration over the BBC director general Tim Davie’s approach to prosecutions during the cost of living crisis.

In a joint letter legal charity Appeal and senior citizens’ group Silver Voices called for legal cases against viewers suffering from financial hardship to be dropped.

They wrote: “Detailed proposals have been submitted to Tim Davie and his senior staff to modify their enforcement measures to ensure that those in genuine financial difficulty are identified and do not end up being prosecuted. We argue that is not in the public interest for hard-up families to be criminalised and issued with fines that they cannot pay. 

“Unfortunately, the BBC has refused to change its enforcement processes or to take any extra support measures to reflect the cost-of-living pressures. We have therefore launched a public campaign to highlight the issues involved.”

The letter adds: “Please could you use your influence with the BBC to persuade their top management team to re-engage with our organisations and agree modest changes to their enforcement processes to reflect the crisis facing millions of families? 

“In the meantime, we are calling for all prosecutions for TV licence non-payment to be suspended.”

Although the BBC has held back from prosecuting over-75 refuseniks since scrapping the free licence fee for older viewers two years ago, its licensing officials have continued to send “threatening” letters.

Silver Voices director Dennis Reed said: “Over 75s who have been unable to pay the £159 TV licence fee since their free licences were scrapped two years ago continue to receive threatening letters on a regular basis, stating variously that they are under investigation, or can expect a doorstep visit, or may be subject to a £1000 fine. 

“One Silver Voices member has received 13 such letters over the period, all of which he reliably tells me have ended up in recycling.”

Analysis by Appeal shows three quarters of all prosecutions by TV Licensing for failing to pay the fine after being caught without a licence are against women.

The prosecutions also account for 30 per cent of all court cases involving women.

TV Licensing insists it only prosecutes as a “last resort” and it offers other options before taking court action.

Appeal has heard from a number of people who fear they face prosecution as they are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford a licence.

Among the anonymous cases it shared was a mother struggling to feed her children who said finding the money to cover the cost “is a lot for myself and my family when it could be use to help buy more food”.

Another told the charity they do not watch the BBC “but at the age of 73 I am terrified of the consequences if I cancel my licence”. 

“I have friends of my age who have been bombarded with horrible threatening letters, so I am frightened to not buy a licence, even though I don’t watch the BBC,” they said.

One viewer, who is housebound with mobility issues, told the charity they received a visit from an official threatening a fine of £1,000. 

They said “he just would not go away” and “had his foot in the door so I could not close” it.

“I was left in a terrible state afterwards,” the viewer said.

During the summer Tory leadership campaign Rishi Sunak hinted he was willing to scrap the TV licence fee.

Earlier this year, the government announced the £159 licence fee will be frozen for the next two years but said its future is up for review.

But the annual bill will continue until at least 2027 when the BBC’s royal charter is up for renewal.

Options to replace it will include subscription models or linking it to another household bill.

But previous attempts to find a new funding model have failed to get off the ground.

A TV Licensing spokesman said: “We are doing all we can to help people and offer support. We work with groups throughout the UK which assist people who fall into financial difficulty, and we have payment plans available to help spread the cost, including our Simple Payment Plan designed for people who need extra support.

“Prosecution is only ever a last resort and no enforcement or prosecutions against over-75s who previously held a free licence have been authorised.”

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