A public consultation has been launched by Culture Secretary, Nicky Morgan, into whether a failure to pay your TV licence fee should continue as a criminal offence.
To decriminalise it would mean not paying the fee would become a civil offence, which would carry charges similar to that of council tax evasion.
Currently, the failure to pay for your TV licence carries fines of up to £1,000 and can even result in imprisonment.
Last year alone the BBC took £3.69 billion from TV licences being paid in the UK, as reported by the BBC themselves.
We spoke to a number of Sunderland residents to get their views on the public licence fee:
The fee for a TV licence is set to rise by £3 to £157.50, as an annual payment, per UK household (free for 75+ year olds who are claiming a pension credit).
Note: Stickers have been used to hide identities at the request of the interviewee.