Amateur licence cost over 25 years

[Rowbank]

I am helping with some family history research concerning David Welsh, GM3BFU, (SK), who passed away almost 50 years ago..

I have been asked by his nephews how much it would have cost him in total for his licence from 1946 to 1972 when he passed away. His license was valid from 1946 to 1972.

This question completely floored me and I have tried, without success, to find out how much a licence would have cost him in total through these 25 years.

In 1946, the cost was £2 which an inflation calculator gives as £84 in today’s money. I think my first licence in 1971 was £15 (which turns out as £213 today).

Can anyone help me to calculate GM3BFU’s total Amateur licence cost over these 25 years?

The RSGB who gave me the 1946 cost (£2), but what was the cost each subsequent year?

Thank you

Bruce. GM4BDJ

[KeithsTV]

I have a copy of the Radio Amateurs Examination Manual from 1968 which states the licence fee is £2. I got my licence in 1979 but can't remember how much it was, certainly more than £2.

Keith

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

I think you are mistaken about yours being £15:
ISTR mine being £8 on issue 40 years ago, 1st Feb. 1980, and that ones earlier than mine were £6.40.
There was a previous surcharge for mobile operation.
73,
Martin.

[G3VKM_Roger]

I agree, that does sound high. My licence was issued in July 1966 and I think it was a couple of pounds and another similar fee for a mobile licence. In 1977, my licence was replaced by a new edition and the price was £5.50 then.

Cheers

Roger

[Radio Wrangler]

I remember £12 in 1984, and a couple of years later it went to £15 and stayed there.

David

[SiriusHardware]

It was certainly £15 by the time I passed the RAE in 1994.

[Rowbank]

Thank you all for your contributions.

It would seem that the cost remained pretty stable at £2 from 1946 to at least mid-60s. That at least will give me a 'ball-park' figure to report back.

I was wrong in quoting £15 for 1971 - that £15 must have been one of the last licence fees that I paid.

[David G4EBT]

I was first licensed as G8JIN in late 1974, then in May 1975, as G4EBT. I don't recall what the fee was back then, but I've found a receipt for 1977 when an updated licence was issued at a cost of £5.50. (roughly equates to £38.00 today accounting for inflation). I seem to recall that for some years it was £12.50, then by the time the fee was scrapped in 2005, it was £15.00.

[ex 2 Base]

As an aside, I was unaware we have to confirm our licenses from time to time, since now they are free. Will a reader who knows of the details please let me know. Ted

[G6Tanuki]

Details on "licence validation" summarised nicely here: https://www.essexham.co.uk/validate-your-licence

[G8BBZ]

Hi Ted,
You might find this useful:

https://www.essexham.co.uk/validate-your-licence

Good luck

[Dave757]

Hi,

Interesting thought - most Amateur Radioi licences probably cost
less for a lifetime than a couple of years current TV licences .

Kind regards
Dave

[Herald1360]

They never had to fund anything, though, except perhaps for just the admin costs.

[Junk Box Nick]

I have my original licence documentation which also includes a duplicated style document dated August 1974 called How to become a Radio Amateur supplied 'with the compliments of the Secretary of State for the Home Department'. In this licences A & B were £3 with a supplemental mobile licence at £1.50. It was also possible to have a 'mobile only' licence for £3. With this was an addendum sheet dated 1st December 1975 where A & B were now £4.80 with the mobile supplement £2.40.

I got my licence in 1976 so was on the £4.80 scale. My renewal in 1977 was £5.50. Those of us around at the time will recall that the 70s was, in British terms at least, a period of rampant inflation.

I have the tear-off retain slip for the 1977 renewal which shows the date and number of the cheque used for payment. It appears my father wrote the cheque as the details are in his handwriting. (I probably only had a building society account.) It's many years since I looked out these documents and had a quiet moment of reflection on seeing this this over forty years on.

My 1980 licence document shows £6.40 so perhaps inflation had eased a bit by then.

Slightly OT, I didn't have a broadcast TV set for years so got the inevitable visits from the TV Licensing people. On one such occasion I did remark that I actually had a licence to transmit television. This seemed to suitably perplex the chap. I didn't go as far as offering to show him the transmitter! (I had been active on 70cms in the early 80s.)

[HamishBoxer]

Perhaps we should still pay a fee and then we might get action on the noise that pollutes the amateur bands.

[Junk Box Nick]

Not a hope! All that polluting stuff is far more important to the economy than the needs of a bunch of odd-balls talking to each other using mainly obsolete technology.

[Aub]

Less of the odd ball! An even ball is more accurate 😄

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by HamishBoxer

Perhaps we should still pay a fee and then we might get action on the noise that pollutes the amateur bands.

I was sent a consultation questionnaire about the funding changes, and said that the annual fee should be retained, on the basis of what's free is perceived to have no value.

[HamishBoxer]

In a world where they are too many complainers,I have to say first class to Ofcom.

Misplaced or so I thought the other day of my licence details (login) and then created another account that showed no licence!

Quick call this morning as I found original details and all sorted.I have found them excellent in the past as I have the DVLA with queries.

As an RSGB 160m reader,I cannot be found to be out of order.

[David G4EBT]

As to licence re-validation, originally, when the new licence was implemented it had been Ofcom's intention that it be a 'licence for life' (just as a driving licence is until age 70, from which time every three years, the licence holder must self-verify their fitness to drive). To quote Ofcom at the time:

Quote:

'We wish to seek the least intrusive means of regulation wherever possible and are committed to reducing the regulatory burden (and therefore costs) for all its stakeholders. The proposal is to introduce a lighter, electronic process - a 'Licence for Life'. This proposal would reduce costs and bureaucracy and would be valid for the lifetime of the licensee. Licenses would only be updated when amendments become necessary (e.g. change of name, address or licence level).

End quote.

It is indeed a 'licence for Life'.

It was only through lobbying by RSGB that Ofcom went against the 'proportionality' principle (which all public bodies must conform to, that any impositions must be both 'proportionate and necessary') and implemented the five-yearly re-validation requirement. Once set up, theoretically it ought not to have cost anything except answering queries, or going beyond their 'proportionality' requirement to hound those who hadn't re-validated.

As the new licences were issued in Feb 2007, the first 5-yr re-validation fell due in Feb 2012. We know from the Essex Ham site that at the end of 2013, 47% of amateurs had not re-validated their licence, so if they went on air, they'd leave themselves open to prosecution. Except that they wouldn't, because Ofcom have rather more sense than that.

I revalidated my licence in 2012, when the document I received from Ofcom's Online Licensing Service stated 'Date Issued: 26 02 2007 - Validation due 7 12 2017'. I duly revalidated it in 2017, so theoretically, I should be required to re-validate it again in Dec 2022. However, having just looked at my personal details under 'My Licences' at the Ofcom 'Licensing Dashboard' all that it says is: 'You last updated your personal details on 10 04 2017'.

No mention of a requirement to revalidate it in 2022, so it wouldn't surprise me if Ofcom have quietly dropped the requirement.

How many elderly, infirm, or QRT 'RHINOs' like me (Radio Ham In Name Only), some of whom may - even in this day and age - not be computer literate, are going to bother with this, given that 47% of all radio amateurs had stopped bothering back in 2013? Easiest way to find out by anyone who hasn't re-validated their licence for at least five years is to log into Ofcom's licencing site and see if it says 'Lapsed Licence'. I very much doubt it. In the unlikely event that is has lapsed, I've no doubt that Ofcom will reinstate it with the minimum of fuss and bother.