Free TV licence to go?

Well said Grannypauline

Is this the same Director General of the BBC - Lord Hall of Birkenhead - who earns £465 thousand and whose staff include:
Tim Davie £664 thousand
Mark Linsey £293 thousand
Valerie Hughes-D'Aeth £295 thousand
Charlotte Moore £295 thousand
Ralph Rivera £307 thousand
etc etc
11 of his team earn more than the Prime Minister so let's not say that they are rewarded for their responsibilities - at least some of which are pretty vague.
Let's say instead that the DG doesn't seem to be able to put together a team that isn't a drain on expenditure. Instead he goes for savings from elderly pensioners, some of whom are the loneliest and poorest members of society.

GillT57 i love my TV. I know people who say 'i never watch TV' inferring they are too intelligent for it. Its about everything in moderation, socialise, work, exercise and relax in equal portions. I see travel progs about countries i may never get to see, cooking from different cultures, crazy progs like XFactor which make me laugh out loud sometimes at the people who think they are brill and are rubbish, good drama, films and series about historical figures and so much more why wouldnt i watch it!!! And of course GN have devoted a whole section to TV and radio for people to express point of view over the latest progs.

Get a grip folks. Spend a day watching American TV and then you will really know what bias is. Just be glad that we have tv with no commercial interests. I am always amused when there is a discussion about TV, whether in real life or online; the number of people who don't watch it, or 'just watch the news' or maybe 'just watch documentaries'

I take it that those of you complaining of BBC bias will be sending your free licences back?....I thought not.

My mum is 83 so has been receiving her free tv licence for some time now. They have always covered a period of 3 years. The last one ran out 2 weeks ago and when she received her new one in the post she immediately noticed it was just for 1 year. Perhaps it's the start of the wind down.

BBC Charter Para 6/4 The BBC should bring people together for shared experiences and help contribute to the social cohesion and wellbeing of the United Kingdom.

As a Scottish Nationalist I see/hear daily evidence of BBC bias towards Unionism. Not really surprising when you realise that their Charter commits them to encouraging cohesive Britishness.

The fact that both left and right accuse the BBC of bias does not prove they are unbiased. They have promoted brexit was relentlessy from their numerous invitations to Farage o Dr the last twenty years up to the present when they treat brexit as inevitable. Just today our local programme included a vox pop of people saying they did not want a People's Vote on the deal when most surveys find the majority do want it.

I think it should stay after all the BBC wastes huge amounts on inflated salaries, Christ Evans for one so why not give to those who have so little.

The left think it's biased to the right, and the right think it’s biased to the left.

How true, Grandma70s. We once sat eating a hotel breakfast, and the people on the tables at either side of us were both discussing BBC bias, one convinced it was to the left, the other to the right! They should have got together and thrashed it out between them.

Most of the really good programmes are BBC , I find, though there’s loads of rubbish as well. Bbc4 is pretty good.

I’m not sure which way the BBC is meant to be biased. The left think it's biased to the right, and the right think it’s biased to the left.

I really do sympathise gillybob, it's an appalling situation for many thousands of women, that's why I'm so against complaining about the loss of a 'perk' such as free tv licences when there is a much bigger issue over pension entitlement receiving little or no attention.

Yep, we have been well and truly done over. And many may not know that there’s another delight in store when we do get to 66+. Any years we were “opted out”, as many of us were encouraged to do, don’t now count towards the 35. My pension forecast is £100 on the new “universal” (ha-ha) scheme, despite an NI record of 41 years. Fortunately there’s a transition period and I should get the “old” pension of £125......eventually, and if they don’t change the rules again. I doubt there’ll be any other “benefits” left by then.

“Done over”indeed Missterious and I am one of them. DH and I have an almost 11 year age gap (56-67) we had thought that we could both finally retire when I hit 60 . Sadly my pension age is now 67 . I really can’t see him being able to carry on until he is 78 .

Jusnoneed you beat me to it. Add in a change in the number of qualifying years for a state pension from 30 to 35, a push back of the age at which we can receive a state pension from 60 to at least 66, and the loss of all the other associated benefits. Women born late 1950s early 1960s have been 'done over'.

FarNorth most councils have now adopted the state pension age as the age at which we can apply for bus passes, very few if any still allow them at 60.

Our bus pass age is your retirement age, so 66 for me. 60 if your in Scotland/Wales or NI. Not that it will be much use as our buses have been slashed in the last year, one cause being given as concessionary fares - the amount they get paid for each use does not cover cost.

All the pension "perks" seem to vanishing as I approach that time, I expect they will all vanish over time.

I'm not yet retired so won't be eligible for a bus pass for a couple of years.

I got a bus pass at 60, although I was not yet at the state retirement age. I don't think the two things are connected.
No-one notifies you of being eligible for a bus pass - you just have to apply for it, to the local authority.

Sorry, I did get it wrong about when a licence is needed. Info is available here - www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one

Including this :
Do I need a TV Licence if I watch on a mobile device?
If you’re using a mobile device powered solely by its own internal batteries – like a smartphone, tablet or laptop – you will be covered by your home’s TV Licence, wherever you’re using it in the UK and Channel Islands.

However, if you’re away from home and plug one of these devices into the mains and use it to watch or record live TV programmes on any channel or device, or to download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, you need to be covered by a separate TV Licence at that address (unless you’re in a vehicle or vessel like a train, car or boat). It’s the law.

I really can't understand why fellow pensioners are decrying the few "freebies" that we get. I feel I've worked hard all my life, including a lot of overtime to make ends meet. I've done a good job of bringing my children up (alone), I spent the last few years of my mother's life visiting her 4 times weekly whilst still working fulltime and also did housework for her in a Saturday. Surely I'm not begrudged a few free bus rides and a bit of help towards winter warmth. (I'm always cold due to medical reasons
I'm not old enough for a free tv license but you can pay them monthly so don't have to bear the cost in one big payment.
Those that think they shouldn't get these "perks" could give their WFP to charity and not use their bus pass.

Missterious for many it is a lifesaving drug! I think it should be free. Some can afford to pay but over 75s may not remember to renew their licence and could face a fine.. I certainly wouldn't think of it. And means testing it is such a costly palaver as Mrspn said for what I'm sure would be a small amount in total. I think we should leave pensioners benefits like this and bus pass alone. It helps them stay healthy and therefore potentially saves the country money as well.

I`m not exactly on the breadline, but not wealthy either, and I was so looking forward to qualifying for a free TV license, which happened in June, so I`ll be feeling a wee bit peeved if they take it off me now.

the BBC use over 90% of their funding from Wales to make WELSH programmes ,in Scotland we get a bit over 50% of the money they raise and a lot of that goes on things like Question time where SNP appear only 2 % of the time despite being the third largest party in Westminster and who have over double the number of MSP's as all the rest put together ...dont get me started on their love affair with Farage !! I'm joining the ranks of non licence payers .You dont have to let them over your door if they turn up,the State broadcaster can live without my money .I dont watch it anyway .

Perhaps the answer is to add the value of these perks to the benefits received by those on pension credit as the means testing has already been done for them. Everyone else would then not receive the freebies. It probably wouldn't be a perfect system as there would be some who don't qualify for pension credit who may struggle to pay, but at least the very poorest would be helped if these perks are withdrawn. People on high incomes can choose not to claim a bus pass or continue to pay for their tv licence as Ilovecheese has chosen to do. I'm not yet retired so won't be eligible for a bus pass for a couple of years. I plan to take mine if it is still available, but don't expect to use it much as the bus services are so limited and I continue to run a car, but once retired I might have time to walk the distance required to get to a regular bus route and the exercise would do me good. I'd definitely need that incentive to use the buses thus keeping my car off the congested roads some of the time. I intend to downsize when I retire and where I move to will take into account the bus services and nearby amenities as I want to be able to stay independent as long as possible even if I have to stop driving at any point.