| BBC Licence 12:04 - Jun 11 with 5813 views | colinallcars |
Well, bang goes the free TV licence just as I near the age to qualify for it. To be fair, most pensioners can afford to pay, and those on pension credit still get it free. What bugs me is the way the Beeb has become dumbed down to commercial TV level recently. The BBC's integrity has gone by the board supposedly in pursuit of ratings. There should be one channel that retains some dignity and sadly the Beeb is slipping away from that position.
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| BBC Licence on 14:40 - Jun 12 with 1173 views | bob566 |
| BBC Licence on 07:28 - Jun 12 by jonno |
Lord Hall, Head of the BBC, agreed to the deal. If he wasn't happy with it, why did he agree to it?
They have recouped the cost of the free licences (and more) by increasing the price of the licence. The BBC waste inordinate amounts of money; the most often quoted example is Lineker's almost 2 million quid a year (why do they need him anyway? If MOTD was presented by an unknown bloke on less than a twentieth that Lineker is paid would anybody no longer watch it?) but he is far from the only one. Many of these people are paid massive money for the simple act of reading an autocue. Jeremy Vine, for example, was being paid £800k a year for simply hosting a daily radio phone in show and a daily TV quiz show. It beggars belief that there is nobody that could do that job for a lot less money. Graham Norton is another. John Humphries on the Today programme on radio 4 plus Mastermind also on huge money. Plenty of people quite capable of performing those roles on a lot less money. 30% pay increases for their executives - totally wrong. Their main soap, Eastenders - now attracting 68% fewer viewers than it used to do. Instead of scrapping it and saving more money they are spending 86 million quid on a new set. Time they started running the organisation properly then they could afford to provide those free licences to pensioners. |
hows Top Gears figures been since they replaced Clarkson, the hamster and the brainy one whose name forgets me. I haven't watched too many Eurovision singing contests since the late terry wogan passed away. Its not that the competition has changed but it was wogans dead pan delivery that did it for me.
You say Graham Norton is replaceable but I'm not so sure. The big stars seem to like him and interact well with him yet I don't like him on the Eurovision which I mentioned above. Don't think he has anything on Wogan.
On the other hand there are other shows where a lead has been replaced and they've found a really successful format to replace it. An example that comes to mind would be Saturday kitchen live where they replaced James Martin with Matt Tebbutt and various other guest presenters.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you but I do think you can make examples where some programs have flopped and others can thrive. I do concur though that these people are paid far too much money. |  | | |
| BBC Licence on 16:12 - Jun 12 with 1090 views | jonno |
| BBC Licence on 09:01 - Jun 12 by ElHoop |
The NIC contributions might have met the cost of paying pensions to those who preceded them, but i doubt it. Maybe in 1946 or something that was the case. I seriously doubt it now. There's no obvious link between NIC and benefits now. It's effectively just another tax which you stop paying when you get old, regardless of whether you contributed enough as a group. With life expectancy ever increasing there's no way that 'old age' is adequately 'funded' by past contributions as it were and you really cannot saddle the young with all of these debts. It just doesn't add up. Maybe if the North Sea oil boom in the 1980's had funded some actual pension reserves it would be different but it was given away in tax cuts so they had the money back. I think that tax and employee NIC should be merged and everyone pays the same tax but I doubt that anyone will be brave enough to do this, so the can will be kicked down the road forever. Meanwhile issues like free TV licences are somewhat trivial. |
Go onto the HMRC website, look up your NI contributions and you will see an "obvious link" between your NIC and your benefit, ie state pension. Basically, your state pension equates to the amount of NICs you have made throughout your working life. |  | | |
| BBC Licence on 16:36 - Jun 12 with 1062 views | ElHoop |
| BBC Licence on 16:12 - Jun 12 by jonno |
Go onto the HMRC website, look up your NI contributions and you will see an "obvious link" between your NIC and your benefit, ie state pension. Basically, your state pension equates to the amount of NICs you have made throughout your working life. |
Nobody would contribute to a pension on that basis Jonno, unless they were forced to. The linkage between earnings and the pension has gradually been eroded to the point that it is virtually non-existent apart from a sort of 'you paid something for some years, so you get something' basis. You could get a full state pension without paying any NIC at all I think, or you could pay stacks of NIC for 50 years and get the same pension under current rules. |  | | |
| BBC Licence on 16:45 - Jun 12 with 1044 views | colinallcars |
As was mentioned earlier, you don't pay in to save for your own pension - when you make contributions you are paying for folk that have already retired. When you yourself retires, people still working pay for your pension. It's not handled well, our state pension is very low compared to most other countries. I've recently retired and would be knackered without the company pensions and savings I've built up. Of course I don't get Pension Credit and don't know at what level it kicks in. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 16:51 - Jun 12 with 1034 views | stowmarketrange |
| BBC Licence on 11:36 - Jun 12 by ManinBlack |
I would not necessarily want the BBC to sack all of its presenters but I would prefer to see a system where they were paid a lot less than they get and the money saved used on other projects without resorting to asking pensioners to stump up because, accidentally on purpose, their so called stars are grossly overpaid by the BBC.
These protests about the Beeb retaining the best talent and paying them accordingly to keep them loyal and on their books, sound very hollow when these presenters appear on other channels like ITV, Sky Arts, BT Sport etc, not to mention hosting events, after dinner speaking, opening a new facility and stuff like that they get paid handsomely for.
I know it is very simple for me to look on the outside at this and it is probably more complicated than just cutting pay, but it makes me uneasy changing a war veteran whilst the "stars" rake in the money. |
Over paying for a new set for a failing soap is a good way to get the licence payers onside,not.
They also waste a tremendous amount on formula 1 racing,in my opinion.It is boring enough on the tv let alone on the radio.How much does that cost to send their team all around the world 20 times a year? |  | | |
| BBC Licence on 16:53 - Jun 12 with 1032 views | jonno |
| BBC Licence on 16:36 - Jun 12 by ElHoop |
Nobody would contribute to a pension on that basis Jonno, unless they were forced to. The linkage between earnings and the pension has gradually been eroded to the point that it is virtually non-existent apart from a sort of 'you paid something for some years, so you get something' basis. You could get a full state pension without paying any NIC at all I think, or you could pay stacks of NIC for 50 years and get the same pension under current rules. |
You cannot get a state pension unless you make NI payments for a minimum of 10 years. You need to contribute for 35 years to get a full state pension. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 17:02 - Jun 12 with 1026 views | ElHoop |
| BBC Licence on 16:53 - Jun 12 by jonno |
You cannot get a state pension unless you make NI payments for a minimum of 10 years. You need to contribute for 35 years to get a full state pension. |
That's not entirely true - an extract from the regulations:
'A qualifying year can be built up if:
you are employed and earning over £166 a week (2019/20) from one employer and paying National Insurance contributions
you are employed and earning between £118 and £166 a week (2019/20) from one employer and are treated as having paid National Insurance contributions'
I don't think that many people would go out of their way to earn between £118 and £166 per week or the annual equivalent for 30 years, but strictly speaking it is possible. I don't think that many people actually understand how NIC works, which is hardly surprising as it's become a total mess.
There's large scale avoidance of NIC, not least by BBC 'employees' in fact - the ones who set up personal companies through which to receive their BBC 'remuneration'. You can bet your life that they pay themselves a salary of £8000 through these personal companies to get the state pension entitlement. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 17:31 - Jun 12 with 1002 views | jonno |
| BBC Licence on 17:02 - Jun 12 by ElHoop |
That's not entirely true - an extract from the regulations:
'A qualifying year can be built up if:
you are employed and earning over £166 a week (2019/20) from one employer and paying National Insurance contributions
you are employed and earning between £118 and £166 a week (2019/20) from one employer and are treated as having paid National Insurance contributions'
I don't think that many people would go out of their way to earn between £118 and £166 per week or the annual equivalent for 30 years, but strictly speaking it is possible. I don't think that many people actually understand how NIC works, which is hardly surprising as it's become a total mess.
There's large scale avoidance of NIC, not least by BBC 'employees' in fact - the ones who set up personal companies through which to receive their BBC 'remuneration'. You can bet your life that they pay themselves a salary of £8000 through these personal companies to get the state pension entitlement. |
Now you are simply being pedantic. The point is that you have to contribute to receive a state pension, and my point is that the contributions you make now pay the pensions of current pensioners. There are of course, as always, numerous anomolies. In my case, I was "contracted out" due to my occupational pension which means I cannot actually receive the full state pension, despite paying in far more than for example my missus who paid in far less over fewer years yet will receive the full state pension, about £2k more than I can get. In fact, despite NI contributions for over 40 years even to get the maximum I am entitled to I still have had to make another two years payments now I have stopped working! But that is how the system works. | | | |
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| BBC Licence on 17:46 - Jun 12 with 991 views | ElHoop |
| BBC Licence on 17:31 - Jun 12 by jonno |
Now you are simply being pedantic. The point is that you have to contribute to receive a state pension, and my point is that the contributions you make now pay the pensions of current pensioners. There are of course, as always, numerous anomolies. In my case, I was "contracted out" due to my occupational pension which means I cannot actually receive the full state pension, despite paying in far more than for example my missus who paid in far less over fewer years yet will receive the full state pension, about £2k more than I can get. In fact, despite NI contributions for over 40 years even to get the maximum I am entitled to I still have had to make another two years payments now I have stopped working! But that is how the system works. |
You can see it as being pedantic if you wish, I don't see it that way.
You're living in the past in terms of how it works now anyway - you can't contract in or out any more. It is what it is and what it is isn't remotely earnings linked. The whole world of pensions has been knackered by successive governments. What was set up in 1946 was a great thing, but what we have now isn't a great thing. Instead of improving what we had then and gradually moved towards financing an actual fund, we've gone backwards to a contributions regime which is easily avoided by those fortunate enough to be able to do so. You are fortunate to have been part of the scheme when it was better - the young of today are nowhere near so fortunate, hence my belief that they shouldn't be asked to finance free licence fees as well. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 19:47 - Jun 12 with 951 views | loftboy |
| BBC Licence on 17:46 - Jun 12 by ElHoop |
You can see it as being pedantic if you wish, I don't see it that way.
You're living in the past in terms of how it works now anyway - you can't contract in or out any more. It is what it is and what it is isn't remotely earnings linked. The whole world of pensions has been knackered by successive governments. What was set up in 1946 was a great thing, but what we have now isn't a great thing. Instead of improving what we had then and gradually moved towards financing an actual fund, we've gone backwards to a contributions regime which is easily avoided by those fortunate enough to be able to do so. You are fortunate to have been part of the scheme when it was better - the young of today are nowhere near so fortunate, hence my belief that they shouldn't be asked to finance free licence fees as well. |
As I’ve said on the other thread ages ago, young people today don’t leave education as early as we did, I was one month past my 16th birthday and started work the next day, as my pension date is now 67 I would have paid in for 51 years, most kids today don’t start paying in until their mid twenties so will only contribute for 40 years so who’s subsidising who? [Post edited 12 Jun 2019 19:49]
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| BBC Licence on 20:29 - Jun 12 with 926 views | ElHoop |
| BBC Licence on 19:47 - Jun 12 by loftboy |
As I’ve said on the other thread ages ago, young people today don’t leave education as early as we did, I was one month past my 16th birthday and started work the next day, as my pension date is now 67 I would have paid in for 51 years, most kids today don’t start paying in until their mid twenties so will only contribute for 40 years so who’s subsidising who? [Post edited 12 Jun 2019 19:49]
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For me it's just way too complicated and tangled to make much sense of it all as a concept. I think that most people think that we should have communal schemes for health for everyone and for care for the elderly and a better education system and hopefully that will all happen. They've been talking about reforming/merging tax and NIC for ages now, but I don't think that anyone has been strong enough and clever enough to simplify it all. Surely if you were starting from scratch then you wouldn't come up with this tax/NI system would you? It doesn't seem to be particularly fair on anyone much these days. As for the BBC it's clearly lost its way but I wouldn't want to see it disappear. It needs to reinvent itself so that it's more relevant to young people and how they access programming these days. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 07:16 - Jun 13 with 854 views | jonno |
| BBC Licence on 20:29 - Jun 12 by ElHoop |
For me it's just way too complicated and tangled to make much sense of it all as a concept. I think that most people think that we should have communal schemes for health for everyone and for care for the elderly and a better education system and hopefully that will all happen. They've been talking about reforming/merging tax and NIC for ages now, but I don't think that anyone has been strong enough and clever enough to simplify it all. Surely if you were starting from scratch then you wouldn't come up with this tax/NI system would you? It doesn't seem to be particularly fair on anyone much these days. As for the BBC it's clearly lost its way but I wouldn't want to see it disappear. It needs to reinvent itself so that it's more relevant to young people and how they access programming these days. |
Well, I certainly agree that the BBC needs to be reformed. As for the pension, like the BBC it is also anachronistic but the problem with the system is how can it be reformed without impacting millions of people? Just look at what has happened to women born in the 1950s whose pension age has been increased, many would say that was very unfair and it is now subject to a judicial review.Another thing about the UK state pension - it is actually the lowest in the developed world. Even the Mexican state pension (no offence to Mexico) is larger than the UK pension. | | | |
| BBC Licence on 09:07 - Jun 13 with 805 views | ElHoop |
| BBC Licence on 07:16 - Jun 13 by jonno |
Well, I certainly agree that the BBC needs to be reformed. As for the pension, like the BBC it is also anachronistic but the problem with the system is how can it be reformed without impacting millions of people? Just look at what has happened to women born in the 1950s whose pension age has been increased, many would say that was very unfair and it is now subject to a judicial review.Another thing about the UK state pension - it is actually the lowest in the developed world. Even the Mexican state pension (no offence to Mexico) is larger than the UK pension. |
The problem now is that we're trying to get people to take out funded pensions through auto-enrolment, so these ever-increasing 'contributions' are going to themselves in their own fund. It's a fair chunk of their salary package these days and sooner or later someone will offer them an alternative by way of tax/NI policy as they are also paying for the unfunded pensions of their elders. It's not fair to cancel or adjust an existing commitment but equally it's not fair to expect people to pay twice for effectively the same thing. That's why I think that merging tax and employee NI is a fair solution. You could maybe bring back the additional age personal allowance or whatever it was called, which would alleviate the effect on less well off pensioners. You might as well give everyone the basic pension on a 'years of UK residence' basis, as you'll have to give it to them anyway. Seems pointless making these stupid calculations of years of contributions any more. I agree that pension provision is way too low, but it is improving - auto-enrolment was a success and it shouldn't be farted about with too much. [Post edited 13 Jun 2019 9:07]
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| BBC Licence on 15:05 - Jun 13 with 690 views | Boston |
Hope I die before I get old.... | |
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