The idea
Everyone who goes fishing, be it on a public stretch of river or on a private lake, needs to buy a rod licence before they start fishing. Fishery bailiffs patrol the country's waterways to make sure that the licence rules are obeyed.
A one day licence costs £3.75. Of this the issuer can claim commision of £0.75. The issuer has to complete the three part licence, take the angler's money, make a monthly return on a strict timetable and send the Environment Agency the balance owed. The Environment Agency receives the licences, checks that the returns are accurate, updates the database of licensed anglers and employs staff to do all this as well as the fishery bailiffs. Any surplus is, I understand, used to manage the waterways.
Is there anything left from the £3.75 after collection and enforcement costs? If not, why not scrap the licence system completely?
Why is it important?
The amount of work involved by fisheries and by the Environment Agency in making sure that anglers have licences when they go fishing is quite onerous. The amounts of money involved are ridiculously small.
Unless the scheme is a net earner to the government, scrap it.