TV Home Forum

Decriminalising Licence Fee delayed until 2022

Telegraph reports.

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
TI
TIGHazard
The previous thread was archived. (https://tvforum.uk/tvhome/bbc-threat-government-45274)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/20/tv-licence-fee-boris-johnson-ditches-plan-decriminalise-non/

Important part

Quote:

Boris Johnson is preparing to shelve plans to decriminalise non-payment of the BBC licence fee, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers have delayed a decision to end the prosecution and imprisonment of people who do not pay the licence fee until at least 2022, it is understood, amid concerns it could create an even harsher system in which bailiffs pursue elderly people and poor families for unpaid debts.

The move will come as relief to the BBC, which has claimed that decriminalisation could cost it £1 billion over five years and would “inevitably require significant cuts” if dissatisfied viewers opted to run the risk of a civil penalty and withhold their licence fee.

The postponement signals the latest cooling of hostilities between Number 10 and the BBC after the departure of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, and Lee Cain, the head of the Downing Street communications operation. The pair had advocated sweeping changes to the broadcaster and refused to allow ministers to appear on political programmes, alleging Left-wing bias.

Ministers are due to publish the delayed outcome of a consultation on the matter as soon as next week, although the timing may depend on whether MPs are sitting to approve a potential Brexit deal. The Daily Telegraph understands the question could be revisited in 2022, when the current £157.50 level of the licence fee is due to be reviewed.
JF
JetixFann450
I see absolutely no reason the license fee should be completely mandatory for people, even the younger generation who likely don't have a TV and instead stream their content from Netflix, Disney+ and the like. The BBC should at least find efforts in funding itself, like with their commercial sector BBC Studios and to find ways in which it can cut services it shouldn't need.
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AS
AlexS
Quote:

Boris Johnson is preparing to shelve plans to decriminalise non-payment of the BBC licence fee, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers have delayed a decision to end the prosecution and imprisonment of people who do not pay the licence fee until at least 2022, it is understood, amid concerns it could create an even harsher system in which bailiffs pursue elderly people and poor families for unpaid debts.


Because obviously it's more important to criminalise young people than expect old people to pay their debts...
BR
Brekkie
A wise move, and done to actually protect the perpetrators from significantly higher fines than under the current system.

This year has shown how important PSB broadcasting is and how the BBC can do things Netflix and the like can't. The licence fee may not be perfect but it is pretty much the best of the funding options available.
RD
Roger Darthwell
JetixFann450 posted:
I see absolutely no reason the license fee should be completely mandatory for people, even the younger generation who likely don't have a TV and instead stream their content from Netflix, Disney+ and the like. The BBC should at least find efforts in funding itself, like with their commercial sector BBC Studios and to find ways in which it can cut services it shouldn't need.

I, as a young person, would gladly pay the TV licence fee.....if there are TV services aimed at my age bracket....
AS
AlexS
Roger Darthwell posted:
JetixFann450 posted:
I see absolutely no reason the license fee should be completely mandatory for people, even the younger generation who likely don't have a TV and instead stream their content from Netflix, Disney+ and the like. The BBC should at least find efforts in funding itself, like with their commercial sector BBC Studios and to find ways in which it can cut services it shouldn't need.

I, as a young person, would gladly pay the TV licence fee.....if there are TV services aimed at my age bracket....

If the BBC only want to produce content for middle aged and elderly middle class people they can't complain when they are the only people to pay the licence fee.
MA
Markymark
AlexS posted:
Roger Darthwell posted:
JetixFann450 posted:
I see absolutely no reason the license fee should be completely mandatory for people, even the younger generation who likely don't have a TV and instead stream their content from Netflix, Disney+ and the like. The BBC should at least find efforts in funding itself, like with their commercial sector BBC Studios and to find ways in which it can cut services it shouldn't need.

I, as a young person, would gladly pay the TV licence fee.....if there are TV services aimed at my age bracket....

If the BBC only want to produce content for middle aged and elderly middle class people they can't complain when they are the only people to pay the licence fee.


Being a Fiftysomething middle class person, I don't exactly feel super-served by the BBC (especially when it comes to music radio), (nor do I feel particularly underserved FWIW)
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AP
AndrewPSSP
As a young person, I feel well-served by the BBC. However, I will admit that the bulk of my consumption is Radios 1, 4 and the World Service.
The only BBC TV programmes I watch are His Dark Materials, Doctor Who and Call The Midwife.
So perhaps, whilst I feel well served by BBC Radio, I don't feel as well served by BBC Television.
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CA
Cardiffian
I'm not as well served by the BBC as I was around 5 - 10 years ago. But it's no coincidence that the breadth of programming offered by the BBC has fallen over the last decade since we've had a Conservative government in Westminster, determined to slowly strangle and starve the BBC.
I haven't been served by BBC Radio for around 15 years, my music tastes are not catered for by the BBC. But the license fee is worth it alone for the news & current affairs output of the BBC, despite that being eroded over the last decade. The BBC is still the public's 'go to' source when there's a major news story in the UK and is still the UK's most trusted broadcaster for news & current affairs, and the BBC's opponents (Murdoch et al), who currently have friends in government, absolutely hate that. Hence why the BBC have been starved of funds in the last decade.

Despite this, in recent years the BBC have shown they've still got the ability to produce landmark drama series. Spooks was a superb long running drama series of the 2000s, and in recent years we've had The Fall, The Bodyguard, The Capture and the vast library of BBC Drama & documentaries that has been put on iPlayer during the pandemic reminds us what the BBC can produce when it's properly funded.
IS
Inspector Sands
I'm curious as to what your musical tastes are?
JO
johnnyboy Founding member
Cardiffian posted:
I'm not as well served by the BBC as I was around 5 - 10 years ago. But it's no coincidence that the breadth of programming offered by the BBC has fallen over the last decade since we've had a Conservative government in Westminster, determined to slowly strangle and starve the BBC.
I haven't been served by BBC Radio for around 15 years, my music tastes are not catered for by the BBC. But the license fee is worth it alone for the news & current affairs output of the BBC, despite that being eroded over the last decade. The BBC is still the public's 'go to' source when there's a major news story in the UK and is still the UK's most trusted broadcaster for news & current affairs, and the BBC's opponents (Murdoch et al), who currently have friends in government, absolutely hate that. Hence why the BBC have been starved of funds in the last decade.

Despite this, in recent years the BBC have shown they've still got the ability to produce landmark drama series. Spooks was a superb long running drama series of the 2000s, and in recent years we've had The Fall, The Bodyguard, The Capture and the vast library of BBC Drama & documentaries that has been put on iPlayer during the pandemic reminds us what the BBC can produce when it's properly funded.


A lot of the neutering of BBC News occurred after the Hutton whitewash.

The BBC have always been nervous about directly challenging government policy for understandable reasons but they are particularly so now.

I too wish the BBC had received more funding over the last decade but, given apparent falling trust in and consumption of BBC output, it is difficult to argue politically that it deserves it.

Funnily enough, I think the biggest thing to hobble the BBC and British broadcasting in general was the decision over the Kangaroo project 12 or so years ago.

This would have given the BBC and other broadcasters the opportunity to build a British Netflix before Netflix, as a thing, morphed into what it is now.
DE
deejay
AndrewPSSP posted:
As a young person, I feel well-served by the BBC. However, I will admit that the bulk of my consumption is Radios 1, 4 and the World Service.
The only BBC TV programmes I watch are His Dark Materials, Doctor Who and Call The Midwife.
So perhaps, whilst I feel well served by BBC Radio, I don't feel as well served by BBC Television.


So you only listen to 3 x 24 hour radio networks (two of which are almost 100% speech based) and watch some of the most expensive television productions the BBC make, yet you don’t feel well served?

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