over 75s TV licence

TV license is out-of-date and , in my opinion , the money is mismanaged by BBC: wages that are too high, bias ( this is backed by academic research) and fake news for example. It is my understanding you need to apply for the free license, so people can choose to continue paying.
I think it is possible that having to pay this amount could make a big difference to some older folk. I know many have to budget to the last penny. With other changes, such as yesterday's announcement that pension credit for couples can only now be claimed jointly if both are over state pensions age ( could make £000s difference as they need to apply for UC instead), those who have no or very small work pensions are struggling more and more. Anything that ameliorates the impact of loneliness in older folk shouldn't be given up lightly.

Free bus travel actually is a benefit to everyone when the wider picture is researched. See, for example -

greenerjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Concessionary-travel-costs-and-benefits-September-2014.pdf

Free prescriptions ( as is the case in Scotland) is also a better option than the bureaucracy of means-testing, where those who fall just below some cut-off point may lose out across the board.

A fair tax system that factors in such "benefits" is a much better approach, so that those who can afford to pay for these things are actually doing so , in proportion to their earnings. It also means that those older folk who would get these benefits under means-testing are not tempted to feel ashamed/stigmatised/guilty. This is the approach Scotland is trying to take and, to me, is the fairest one.

Yes I do. It's over £12 a month and that is quite a bit. Plus since that is just for BBC I think it's not worth it anyway.

Like most means tested, situations poverty is judged by whether someone receives pension credit or not. But there are always very borderline cases where one might only be couple of pounds too rich to claim it. But that doesn't mean they are comfortably off, but do miss out on other benefits that pension credit also gives them. And it looks like the TV license might be something else these unfortunate people might have to fork out for on top of all the other losses. Even with PC the amount pensioners are expected to live on is cruel. My actual pension has only gone up 20 pounds in 13 years. That doesn't keep up with inflation during this period at all, not even the cost of increased tv licenses, just one of the many increases.

No no no! The BBC must not become a commercially funded business. They are biased too.

If the BBC can’t afford this, they shouldn’t be paying the likes of Gary Lineker the exorbitant salaries that they receive. Remember, ITV etc is free to view.

The other TV companies don't have to produce the less popular programmes the BBC's charter makes them produce. You cannot compare it to the commercial programmes.

This government will do anything they like to make more money. If they can cut the police force by 20% they can do anything. Get Rid of Theresa May and her cronies who know nothing about the way many people survive.

Difficult one, I would rather go for the 50% of the fee for the over 75,s and drop the salary of some of the ridiculous salaries paid at the BBC.

I don't understand why this is being handled by the BBC if it is a benefit, next they will be handing over the bus passes to the bus companies and so on, bureaucracy gone mad.

luluaugust the government handed it over to the BBC they had no option .

Here in France the TV licence used to be free for over 70's but about ten years ago it changed and is now income based for everyone. I think this would be a much better idea than simply stopping free licences for over 75's ...same with the fuel allowance (which, as UK pensioner ex pats was stopped for us as the UK says we live in a HOT climate (well, I suppose a Russian would consider minus 10 in winter to be hot !) instead of stopping it altogether, why can this not also be income based ? Don't tell me it would cost more for civil servants to process .......they seem well able to process letters asking for proof we are still alive and entitled to receive our UK pension ......................(until that is either stopped frozen or means tested !!)

For many 75 and over persons, what ever their income, the tv is their only means of knowing ' life still exists outside their door'.
'Good on you' to those who give it to charity.
That is their choice.

I don’t get it yet either but I do wish they would consider means testing for it; if you need it and can’t afford it, have it free; if you can afford to pay say half, do so; if you are reasonably well off (one of the affluent pensioners the BBC keep banging on about) buy your own. It really isn’t a vast amount of money but for some folks clearly it would be difficult, although for us, well we could afford to continue to buy it as we do now.

Well we have just cancelled sky, because we won’t be able to afford it.

Like many I rarely watch the BBC. I find it too biased. I watch mostly Sky Sport or Netflix. I actually believe the BBC should support itself with advertising as other channels do. I think BBC presenters are overpaid. I would not even pay them half of what they get. Also far to many repeats. I do think after a lifetime of paying a license fee people over 75 are entitled to not have to pay for BBC especially as many do not watch it. I don't think whether a person can afford it comes into it if they have paid a TV license for all of their adult lives.

I live in the USA and am confused about this posting. What do you all mean when you talk about a license for a TV? Do you need a license to watch television programs in your own home or are you talking about a license being necessary so that you can purchase a TV? Either way, I've never heard of such a thing.

Marilii we have to pay for a licence to watch TV and then we don't pay anything for any of the basic TV channels. If you want more channels you have to pay for them. If you want to watch programmes on catch up you need to have an Internet connection which not all older people have.

Several people on here don't seem to understand that the BBC has a charter which commits them to certain types of programmes which the commercial stations don't have because they don't raise enough revenue. If the BBC were to become self funding it would require a legal change to its charter and no longer provide some of those services. I haven't checked which are those commitments but I think it would include things like the Asian Network and perhaps the BBC World service.

Marilii Our main public broadcaster is a public service broadcaster (BBC) who cannot run adverts on its programmes to finance themselves as they have a requirement to show programmes that meet the diverse needs of all communities in the UK, in other words they must produce many programmes that are important to the community they serve but do not have the high viewer numbers that will attract advertisers

This service is therefor financed by the license that every household that owns any televisions has to buy as the service has to be freely available to everybody in the country who has a television.

At the moment if you were over 75 you no longer need to pay for the licence, no matter how large your income is. There are now plans to reduce this free availability and it is suggested that these licences are available only to those retired people who receive state income supplements because their income is so low.

The BBC is funded by licence-payers, Marilii and unless you purchase a licence you are not supposed to watch any television programmes in your home.
Students in halls of residence have to each pay for a licence if they have a tv in their room.

At one time people could be imprisoned if caught watching tv without a licence! I think you can still be fined which, of course, further penalises those who cannot afford the licence in the first place.

For those who like to watch a programme without it being interrupted by adverts it seems ideal. However, the BBC seems to show plenty of its own adverts between programmes.
It costs £150.50 per annum.

The problem with means testing these things is that the money 'saved' will be spend on the admin of deciding who can have it and who can't.

Hm999. You do not need to means test if only those in receipt of Pension Credit are entitled to a free licence. The Pensions Agency will have a complete list of who they are. so no extra admin.

Subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon do not have adverts. BBC could do the same . I’d be happy to pay a subscription. BBC has loads of “adverts” - for its own programmes .

As I understand it, governments are reluctant to means-test benefits as administration costs cancel out any benefit by stopping benefit for some. I stand corrected if I’m wrong. A very famous rock musician (friend of a friend) who always received private prescriptions etc. took advantage of every benefit going once he knew he was eligible for them, free prescriptions being one.

Trouble is if the BBC continues to offer licences when their funding finishes they will have to make massive cuts to their (quality) productions which will have a knock on effect on their exports - which generate a big income us all........perhaps there could be a means testing/ pension credits type system

I think that the BBC says it needs the licence fee because it funds specialist tv for minority groups such as Welsh language programmes.

However, should those who cannot afford the fee and who gain no benefit from these specialist programmes be forced to fund them?