Why should licence fee payers pay for BBC mistakes?
31/07/2008
The news that Ofcom has fined the BBC £400,000 for deceiving listeners and viewers in a string of radio and television programmes is nonsensical and wrong, said Voice of the Listener & Viewer (VLV) Chair, Jocelyn Hay, today.
"The regulatory system is flawed because the BBC is not a commercial company whose shareholders would be hurt by such a move: it is a public institution financed by a compulsory licence fee levied on everyone who owns a television set. The licence fee is now officially regarded as a tax, so fining the BBC is akin to imposing a tax upon a tax. The treasury will benefit but licence fee payers - through no fault of their own, will suffer from the inevitable drop in programme budgets and hence the quality of programmes provided by the BBC.
"These transgressions have occurred across a wide range of programmes on radio and television. Even though the motive was not mercenary and no money changed hands, the episode has caused immense damage to the faith the public places in an institution which plays such an irreplaceable role in the cultural and democratic life of our country.
"Those at the top who condoned the development of a climate in which, for whatever reason, such transgressions could occur must be held fully responsible.
"It is up to the BBC Trust and Executive Board to ensure that such deceptions do not occur in future. They must also find a more fitting penalty to ensure that it is the transgressors, not licence fee payers, who bear the penalty for past deceptions."
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YOU RESPOND
I totally agree that licence fee payers should not pay for BBC mistakes!
It should be paid by a reduction in the "employer's contribution" to the
employee's pension fund.
This should also occur when catastrophic mistakes are made by the civil service. I have been a civil servant, and realise they have very little responsibility for mistakes made, so why should they be paid so much? When they realise it will affect them, they would be more careful how they managed their work. It's virtually impossible to be sacked, unless you fornicated at work.
M K Stewart