TV Licensing Campaign:
The BBC Trust is conducting a survey of the collections methods used by TV Licensing after [just] allegations about heavy-handed tactics at
BBC Trust - consultation on TV licence fee collection. Many articles have popped up across the internet with personalities such as a previous BBC Director-General – Greg Dyke [what a name
at
Dyke: Scrap the licence fee.
Apparently it costs BBC Trust £200 million per annum to collect the TV Licencing fees! The money saved by scrapping the TV tax database and sacking the inspectors round would pay for the radio.
One comment on a website said “I do not own a firearm, but the licensing authority (ie, the police) do not send me a threatening letter every other week. I do not distill whisky, and HM customs and Excise do not pester me. I do not own a car and I do not receive mail from the DVLA badgering me to buy a licence. In fact, I do not own or do anything that requires a licence and that includes a television. So why have I been subjected, for the last three years, to what can only be described as harrassment from the agency collecting TV licence fees?” I can only say how right that comment is.
The review of the techniques used to collect TV Licences is on the one hand, well overdue, but on the other hand unnecessary. Why is it unnecessary? Firstly, because anybody who is not in denial knows that the techniques used are heavy-handed and a review is not necessary to find that out. Secondly, and most importantly, because the TV Licence fee is a waste of money and the reason I for one don’t use a TV.
The free channels for the public are meant to be exactly that. In no other country do they have such excessively priced TV licences with bailiffs used to collect a licence fee for somebody who has never owned a TV! All this comes down to the one question; if the TV licence is reaching the end of its days [like Gordon Brown
] what should replace it? This is my proposal;
1.Scrap the current TV licencing fee, and most of the TV licencing staff, including all their enforcement team and callcentre contracts – Save at least £200m per annum, probably closer to £500m.
2.Impose a blanket tax of £7.50 per receiving equipment [freeview box and suchlike, including TV cards] bought and a blanket tax of £15 on any TV bought. To raise another £500m per annum at these proposed figures, 33m pieces of receiving equipment and 16m TV’s would need to be sold each year.
3.Impose a 15% blanket tax on
profits of all TV broadcasts across every TV network that are broadcast in the UK.
4.All users of subscription based services [Sky, Virgin, Setanta, BT Vision, Tiscali TV, TopUpTV,…] get charged £8 monthly on top of their subscription. This is paid through their susbcription and not directly to any “TV Licensing” authority. Every 5.43m subscribers each year would make £500m/per annum.
5.Privatize Lonely Planet and any other profitable BBC Worldwide services. BBC is meant to be completely not for profit. I imagine that as offering:
a.Sports, Culture, Business, Sports & News [National & Worldwide] TV channels.
b.Local News as well as above on Radio.
c.UK National news offered worldwide, both online and via “partners” in other countries.
I can hardly imagine that the BBC of today is what it was set up to be. Today it is a massive commercial behemoth funded by our [taxpayers] money. If the BBC were to sell off all its profitable assets it would most likely make a lot more than running them. The current BBC is one big anti-competitive practice, but we don’t see the “Office of eFfed-up Trading”
or the supposed “Competition Commission-ing authority”
) waking up from their deep slumber, do we? Nope. BBC can get away with ripping us all off.
I am sure that those very channels could also raise a heck of a lot of money just from their advertising. Also, all the savings by chopping the BBC up into bite-sized pieces would more than cover this illegal tax!
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If you agree with me then fill in the Consultation at
BBC Trust - consultation on TV licence fee collection and write a letter to the BBC Trust, TV Licencing, Ofcom and your MP [as well as clicking my scales
]. Any other recommendations to deal with this fraud tax or addresses are welcome!
BBC Trust:
e-mail:
trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk
BBC Trust Unit,
Room 211,
35 Marylebone High Street,
London,
W1U 4AA
Ofcom:
fax: 0207-981-3333
Ofcom,
Riverside House,
2a Southwark Bridge Road,
London,
SE1 9HA
TV Licencing:
fax: 0844-800-5816
TV Licensing,
Bristol,
BS98 1TL
Cancel the TV Licence Fee!!! 
All the information I impart is my advice based on my experience. It does not constitute professional advice. If in doubt, always consult with a professional. 
