TV Licence article Discussion

[Deleted User]

slow_saver wrote: »

Yep, that's what I said.... I pay my council tax towards keeping the cost of schools open etc.... I don't have any kids but do I say I'm withholding a portion of my council tax because of that? NO..... I just pay up! I think ALL dwellings in the UK should pay for a screen licence whether the occupants watch the BBC or they don't.... You can't pick and choose what public services your taxes go to & the BBC IS a a public service.

The BBC is entertainment and cannot be compared with public services such as schools, bin collection etc. Why should I pay for your entertainment? We need to educate children, keep the roads clean from rubbish and provide social care we do not need to provide TV programmes though. Society will not break down if the telly has to be paid for.

And if we are playing the 'who pays the most card' my husband and I:
- pay a lot of tax
- we have never claimed any benefits
- we do not have children
- we also live in a rural area so lots of things we pay for we do not even get to use (street lighting, road gritting, public transport, leisure centre etc).
- we have to pay for all costs for dental care (no NHS available near us), glasses and prescriptions

So no I would not pay for others to watch soaps, quiz shows etc. Especially when I pay for so much for so many other people already. If they bought in a screen licence I would not pay for it under any circumstances.

[Deleted User]

slow_saver wrote: »

I think ALL dwellings in the UK should pay for a screen licence whether the occupants watch the BBC or they don't.

You are aware, that you don't just need a licence for watching the BBC?

You need a licence for watching any live broadcasts, irrespective of which company broadcasts it.

dekaspace

slow_saver wrote: »

Yep, that's what I said.... I pay my council tax towards keeping the cost of schools open etc.... I don't have any kids but do I say I'm withholding a portion of my council tax because of that? NO..... I just pay up! I think ALL dwellings in the UK should pay for a screen licence whether the occupants watch the BBC or they don't.... You can't pick and choose what public services your taxes go to & the BBC IS a a public service.

If you want you argument to be better than make it more an actual BRITISH broadcasting corporation instead of now where its more ENGLISH, and Southern at that


I dislike hearing middle/upper class Southern English people presenting shows and next to no Scottish broadcasting, theres all of one Scottish regional variation of the BBC which only keeps afloat by doing contractal work for other channels (many of which are English)

EachPenny

slow_saver wrote: »

Yep, that's what I said.... I pay my council tax towards keeping the cost of schools open etc.... I don't have any kids but do I say I'm withholding a portion of my council tax because of that? NO..... I just pay up! I think ALL dwellings in the UK should pay for a screen licence whether the occupants watch the BBC or they don't.... You can't pick and choose what public services your taxes go to & the BBC IS a a public service.

Your council tax (which is only a fraction of council funding) is subject to a democratic process whereby the people making the spending decisions (and therefore the amount charged) are directly accountable to the local electorate. If the council spends money unwisely, or wants to increase the amount charged, it will need to consider whether the electorate will accept that decision. Increasing the amount of council tax by more than a certain percentage requires approval via a local referendum.

What democratic process governs the BBC? If licence fee payers are unhappy with the services of the BBC how do they make the managers listen? There is no democratic process to call the BBC to account for its failings.

Why should I pay a licence fee to use my laptop screen, in order to fund BBC programmes which I find highly offensive?

pollypenny

Yea gods! Having just returned from America, I am soooo grateful for the BBC!

cw18

pollypenny wrote: »

Yea gods! Having just returned from America, I am soooo grateful for the BBC!

For lack of adverts or for quality of shows (or both)?

I do like the idea of advert free TV, but the BBC stopped producing anything that inspired me to turn on my set many years ago. So I was paying their 'ransom' to allow me to watch channels that had adverts. Once my last child moved out (leaving me on my own) I realised I had another option, which is the one I went for.

So I've been Legally Licence Free since 1st Jan 2011, and have spent the £145+ a year on second hand DVDs. Means I can watch shows I like at a time that suits me, and totally advert free And for the record - yes, some of the DVDs I've bought are old BBC shows.......

[Deleted User]

cw18 wrote: »

and have spent the £145+ a year on second hand DVDs.

You can get some good DVDs (and the odd Bluray) in £land.

cw18

I have various sources, but have to admit they're not often one of them. I'm rarely near one of their outlets, and a lot of films I've seen there are only 50p in one of my regular haunts The local charity shops have turned up some great finds - and regularly at 3 for £1 Have rarely paid more than £5 (normally £3 or less) for an entire series / season of a show. The only ones I've recently paid slightly more for have been the last series / season I've needed to complete an entire run of a show (and normally something that's less than 5 years old).

My other half regularly jokes I could open my own DVD library

JimmyTheWig

EachPenny wrote: »

Your council tax (which is only a fraction of council funding) is subject to a democratic process whereby the people making the spending decisions (and therefore the amount charged) are directly accountable to the local electorate. If the council spends money unwisely, or wants to increase the amount charged, it will need to consider whether the electorate will accept that decision. Increasing the amount of council tax by more than a certain percentage requires approval via a local referendum.

What democratic process governs the BBC? If licence fee payers are unhappy with the services of the BBC how do they make the managers listen? There is no democratic process to call the BBC to account for its failings.

It should be funded from general taxation and brought under democratic accountability in the same way other taxpayer-funded services are.

[Deleted User]

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

It should be funded from general taxation

Why should it be?