mercalia wrote:if all weeks had the same number of says then fine, but they dont
All weeks have seven days in them. Did you mean "months"?
If the OAP was stated as a daily rate rather than a weekly one, all you would need to do would be to calculate it to the last working day of each month bringing forward any left over from the previous month. Better still would be an annual rate and dividing it into twelve equal payments.
I heard on the radio this morning that some old lady had said that if she didn't pay her TVL, they would send her to prison ............. where she would be kept warm, fed three times a day ........... and be able to watch telly without having to pay a TVL.
I heard on the radio this morning that some old lady had said that if she didn't pay her TVL, they would send her to prison ............. where she would be kept warm, fed three times a day ........... and be able to watch telly without having to pay a TVL.
Once upon a time, tv licence prosecutions were only outnumbered by the CPS. Admittedly, that may be saying very little, but before that, they were only outnumbered by the police's prosecutions. The BBC burnt its corporate fingers when it emerged how the luvvies and wooly bourgeoisie were being feather-bedded by the less well-off going to prison (figures that the BBC robustly avoided publishing.)
However, there's a lot of waffle talked about prison by people with not much idea of what's involved.
I heard on the radio this morning that some old lady had said that if she didn't pay her TVL, they would send her to prison ............. where she would be kept warm, fed three times a day ........... and be able to watch telly without having to pay a TVL.
Much sympathy with the lady but you don't go to prison for non-payment now.
thirdcrank wrote: .........However, there's a lot of waffle talked about prison by people with not much idea of what's involved.
I don't doubt that in the slightest.
You might, sort of, get fed (£1.98 a day, believe) but you are unlikely to be warm and you don't get free tv.
Yes. There's a widely held view that going to prison is voluntary which is another discussion. People have not been imprisoned for having no tv licence but for not paying a fine imposed for the criminal offence. I suppose that at that stage there's a choice of paying or not, but I fancy few go down as an economy measure, especially as the court will have tried everything else to extract the £££, but - as I've often heard said in these circumstances by hard-hearted bobbies: you cannot squeeze blood out of a stone. If somebody is penniless they are hard up.
Why should a 75 year old pensioner get a free TV licence and not a 70 year old on the same income? Why should a 65 year old get free prescriptions and a 30 year old not even though they may be on a lower income and ditto for free bus travel?
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
pete75 wrote:Why should a 75 year old pensioner get a free TV licence and not a 70 year old on the same income? Why should a 65 year old get free prescriptions and a 30 year old not even though they may be on a lower income and ditto for free bus travel?
The psychology of pensioners is such that a lot of them wont spend the money even if they have it. Doesn't matter if their health depends on it and it certainly doesn't matter if they're lonely and cant afford to get out and about.
Stuff like this should be paid up front for whilst working so you don't have to worry about it when you're not. (I always assumed it was)
kwackers wrote:The psychology of pensioners is such that a lot of them wont spend the money even if they have it. Doesn't matter if their health depends on it and it certainly doesn't matter if they're lonely and cant afford to get out and about.
Stuff like this should be paid up front for whilst working so you don't have to worry about it when you're not. (I always assumed it was)
If someone dies because of their own meanness they deserve it. Nothing to do with state pension etc is paid up front. It all comes out of current government revenues.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Someone on Radio 4 at 1.00 said the BBC missed a truck at the last review. He proposed the BBC moving to a subscription only channel like netflick and leaving all the other Freeview channels to the populace. There's some merit in this providing they leave the radio and internet apps such as news and sport free.
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840
pete75 wrote:Why should a 75 year old pensioner get a free TV licence and not a 70 year old on the same income?
Totally agree. That's why I'm all for scrapping it totally.
I'd also preserve the free bus pass but only for people who reach their state retirement (67 for me). Most 60-year olds are still working and don't really need it.
pete75 wrote:Why should a 75 year old pensioner get a free TV licence and not a 70 year old on the same income?
Totally agree. That's why I'm all for scrapping it totally.
I'd also preserve the free bus pass but only for people who reach their state retirement (67 for me). Most 60-year olds are still working and don't really need it.
It's not issued at 60 but when a person(male or female) reaches the state retirement age for women which varies a fair bit at the moment as shown by this chart - dates from 2010 but gives the general idea. Some women are moaning about having their retirement age increased to the same as men's but equality legislation works both ways. If there is to be a difference then women's retirement age should be higher due to their longer life expectancy.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
IMO Gordo's original wheeze of free tv licences was wrong in that it implies that a tv licence is a vital part of a pensioner's budget. A free tv licence just ring-fences a part of their income, assuming that the alternative would be an equivalent increase in pension. Unlike heating costs and the bus pass, there's no public benefit in pensioners having a telly, although that's not to diminish the importance of a telly for many people for many reasons.
IMO, The simple fact that the BBC continues to be financed by an almost universal flat-rate household tax, whether or not they ever watch the BBC is indefensible, except that change would be a pain for the BBC. Gordo simply delayed the inevitable change by having the government paying for all those telly licences.
