T.V Licence - Up to 3.7 million pensioners will now have to pay for it.

[Chippy_Tea]

I guess there will be loads of people moaning about the decision and if it had been a blanket ban i would have agreed but i think this is fair, what are your thoughts?



Up to 3.7 million pensioners who previously received a free TV licence will now have to pay for it.

The BBC will scrap blanket free licences for over-75's, but those households with one person who receives pension credit will still be eligible.

In 2015, the government announced the BBC would take over the cost of providing free licences for over-75s by 2020 as part of the fee settlement.

But that would have cost £745m, a fifth of the BBC's budget, by 2021/22.

The new scheme will cost the BBC around £250 million by 2021/22 depending on the take-up.

The BBC said "fairness" was at the heart of the ruling, which comes into force in June 2020.

Read in full - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48583487

 

[GerritT]

On the one hand, those are the people that watch the most hours per day. On the other hand those are the people who the least can afford it.
A percentage of the taxable income would be fairer. Raise all income taxes with a tenth percent and that should do it.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

No! I don't think it's fair, our pensioners have paid their tax all their lives, they deserve some freebies. The BBC should get the celebrities and their high income staff wages down.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Five off topic posts deleted

This thread was not posted so a certain member could yet again post their negative views of the BBC (you know who you are and its not Gunge for a change) if you do not have a view on the subject of the OP do not post.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

On the one hand, those are the people that watch the most hours per day. On the other hand those are the people who the least can afford it.

They have been discussing it on the radio saying a lot of old folk rely on the TV and i can understand that what i think is unfair is they all got it even if they could comfortably afford to pay so i think the new rule "those households with one person who receives pension credit will still be eligible" is fair.

 

[chesters-mild]

It is not fair, and the fault lies with the Government not the BBC.
The next thing that will happen is to remove free bus passes

 

[terrym]

The debate should not be about bringing more people back into the fee paying fold but actually lowering the fee or, in my view eliminating the fee altogether. If advertising is needed to pay for part or all of the service so be it. Or if you want to watch advert free on line, then make it a subscription service.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The debate should not be about bringing more people back into the fee paying fold but actually lowering the fee or, in my view eliminating the fee altogether. If advertising is needed to pay for part or all of the service so be it. Or if you want to watch advert free on line, then make it a subscription service.

I agree and would be happy if they used adverts rather than us having to pay the fee.

.

 

[Oneflewover]

I don't buy into this 'all pensioners are hard up' codswallop so yes I think this is absolutely fair.

 

[GerritT]

trust me, you don't want adverts. You'll rather want a 'pay as affordable' model. Top income? top payer. Low income? Near free.

 

[Oneflewover]

I don't buy into this 'all pensioners are hard up' codswallop so yes I think this is absolutely fair.

Why was my post moderated please? Don't think I said anything off topic or outrageous....

 

[Richie_asg1]

It would be so much easier to scrap the fee and introduce advertising to cover costs. At the moment there is a lot of time and money wasted sending out payment schedules, failure to get licence letters -and having to buy a licence to watch TV makes us the laughing stock of Europe.

I say start advertising and scrap the licence - fees and penalties, prosecutions and fines and all the other wasted time that comes with it.

If you want to watch the thing in the first place.....which I seldom do.

Would people really get that upset about seeing adverts at every break in programme enough to want to pay £150 quid to avoid it? - Do those people ONLY watch the BBC and no other channels?

Start advertising and ditch the fee !

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I rarely watch live TV so record everything that is not on the BBC and watch later if they go to adverts i will do the same.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Why was my post moderated please? Don't think I said anything off topic or outrageous....

You introduced baby boomers and and rich parents looking after their working kids, the second part was relevant so wasn't removed.

 

[Leon103]

Get rid and introduce ads, use real goods on screen in exchange of payment.

 

[GerritT]

I can remember Dutch telly before the broad introduction of ads (including Sundays), and have experienced the licensing model of the BBC.
Rest assured, you'll gonna miss the licensing fee.

TV costs money. Taxation or licenses are proper ways to bring up money. Adverts are bad.

 

[Oneflewover]

You introduced baby boomers and and rich parents looking after their working siblings, the second part was relevant so wasn't removed.

Ok. The comment was about inter-generational 'fairness' which is very much on topic as far as I can see. What I was trying to say is that it is no longer ok for a generation who experienced good times - the like of which will not be seen for a good while if ever - to receive free TV licences etc on a non-means tested basis. Hope that's better!

 

[MyQul]

Adverts are bad.

Not necessarily . We have two free commuter news papers in London, one in the morning and one in the evening, which are paid for by adverts. I think the evening one, the Evening Stanard is particularly good. Most days I commute by bike but I stop off at the Oval tube station as I go past, to get a copy of the ES

 

[Chippy_Tea]

TV costs money. Taxation or licenses are proper ways to bring up money. Adverts are bad.

We will never have adverts on the BBC so we will continue to pay and those that can afford it should pay is it fair a person over 75 on pension credit whos partner may be well off is entitled to a free licence but an out of work parent on benefit isn't?

.

 

[GerritT]

Not necessarily . We have two free commuter news papers in London, one in the morning and one in the evening, which are paid for by adverts. I think the evening one, the Evening Stanard is particularly good. Most days I commute by bike but I stop off at the Oval tube station as I go past, to get a copy of the ES

But do those ads interfere with your television experience? And do you somehow pay for those papers anyway already? That's the thing with the Beeb: you're already paying, and you want ads over that?