Is a regressive tax really the best way for us to pay for TV?

[NovaBritannia]

Originally Posted by Scottish_Republican

In some parts of the country they just shoot people. I remember being told that they load salt into the gun - you can get a sting on the backside with the stuff.

There's an idea...

But there are reasons why we have such access laws - Scottish land is mostly in the hands of the few.

Equally I think there should be a more obvious distinction between walking across someone's mountain range and walking across someone's back garden.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

How to get rid of a TVLA Officer

Sales Section

These guys have a sales only agenda and are generally polite; they are on the same commission structure as the enforcement section. If you refuse to buy a licence from them there and then details will appear on a future visit slip issued at central visit planning. These are sent out every two weeks to the enforcement division.

Enforcement Section

Now these guys and a few girls are the crème de la crème of deception.
They are usually aged 30 -55, have a BMI over 30, and are bold.
No matter how pleasant and nice these people seem they should be treated as dishonest and criminal.

They come from a variety of backgrounds, usually debt collection, since Capita took over from The Post Office in the administration of the Licence Fee all new starters are placed on the Capita Prime Time Contract which mean they work 20 hours per week 4pm to 9pm Monday to Friday or weekends and other hours as they see fit. They undergo limited training and are subject to NO CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK.
Remember Capita run the Criminal Records Bureau, these positions do not qualify for any sort of CRB check. This means for the rewards on offer they attract the real dregs of society to do this job.

If you think you are ever visited by anyone from TVLA remember the following

Everyone has a legal right to approach your front door (the one with a letter box in it) UNLESS YOU HAVE REMOVED THAT RIGHT

There is nothing in law that says a TVLA officer can caution you.

What to Do

When they ask you the magic questions-

1. Are you the Owner / Occupier

2. Are you Buying or Renting (This trick establishes that you live there, most say renting because they think it’s double glazing or fascia’s)

3 .Your Name (they know it from TVLA records or the electoral roll) You can remove your name from the public electoral roll without losing your right to vote

4 .Do you live here?

Answer with WHO ARE YOU (Nothing Else)

If they say I need to speak with the above

Answer WHO ARE YOU (Nothing Else)

If he says I can’t discuss any thing unless you live here . Close the door.

If you get caught out do the following

The Officer should show you his ID card, if not ask for it, hold out your hand and take it off him and look at it

It is green in a black folder, hand filled in with a first and last name and a badge number and 0870 contact phone number, a dodgy looking photo will also be visible.

The Badge number is also the VISITING PARTY NUMBER (VPN) assigned to that officer. It will look like they made it themselves!

Make a note of both.

If a TV can be heard or seen from walking up to the property –
Do not admit or deny possession or installation of a TV or other equipment.
Make a note of the name and number of the officer and ask him to leave.

The TVLA regulations state the officer must leave immediately when they are asked to do so.

If the officer refuses to leave your property, close the door and if you have a camera or video camera to hand, (phones are good) turn it on and open you door and again ask to officer to leave whilst recording. (He will leave this time)(They are not media trained and it's because of this incident YouTube - TVL Trespass THIS PONY TALE SAYS IT ALL

Note the Following in the video

The officer is going to call the Police because he is being harrased!!!
CAPITA NOW INSIST that Visiting officers keep their mouth closed.
Watch his admission that he entered by buzzing an address that wasn't on his visit list, that's a no no.

If it’s safe, follow him off your property make a note of his registration number.

Do not under any circumstances tell him to *%&#$@! Off or any thing else like that, even from your front door. You can be reported for this and this has been know to open up another can of worms.

If a TV can’t be seen or heard from walking up to the property -
Do not admit or deny possession or installation of a TV or other equipment.

Follow the above instructions.

TVLA operate single and dual visiting in England and Wales. Dual visiting can be a trainee and normal officer, a normal officer and manager, or for high risk area’s for safety. All officers have to complete a number of hour’s dual visiting with their manager every month, so don't be alarmed if 2 turn up

If an Officer says “I’m from Capita” or “TV Licensing” ask the officer to leave immediately. If the officer refuses to leave, close the door and if you have a camera or video camera to hand, (phones are good) turn it on and open your door and again ask to officer to leave whilst recording.

Under no circumstances can a TVLA officer use an intercom to say he has a letter or delivery for the address, or that he has to give it to you in person. If this does happen keep insisting for the delivery or letter, if the Officer asks you a question, say “where’s my letter/delivery”. The officer must state his business over the intercom. There have been cases that have been chucked out due to entrapment laws. If he gains access to a communal area, ask him to leave immediately and complain to TVLA.

What they can and can’t do

1. They can’t give the impression that they have a access right without a search warrant to enter any part of your property. They also can’t threaten you with a search warrant application to gain access or compliance with a statement.

2. They can’t force you to answer any questions with the threat of prosecution for non compliance

3. If they try to cautionyou , just say “I want to obtain legal advice”. The Officer MUST STOP the interview. Even if this is before he asked for your name. Do not sign anything, even if they ask you to confirm you want legal advice. They will ask you for confirmation of your name and a contact telephone number; do not give this out.

4. When officers visit they must only approach your door with the letterbox from the normal method of access. He CAN’T go round the back of your house or look through your letter box or windows. If this happens and you can complain, the BBC get a copy of all complaints. Officers don’t get many complaints, but if they do it takes them out of circulation for 2-3 hours whilst the manager investigates.. This breaches privacy guidelines. The BBC require all complaints to be investigated within 24 hours and a copy of the report sent to them

5. They can’t caution you if you are under 17, drunk, doped up, mentally disabled, blind, deaf without a TVLA interpreter.

6. They can’t conduct an interview if you live at the address and are under 25 and live with your parents or relations.

7. If you are partially dressed they must ask you to be dressed for the interview.

8. Do not believe them if they say don’t worry if this is your first offence they will not prosecute you.

9. They can only caution outside face to face from a ground floor door or window. If you speak to them over an intercom then you cannot be cautioned

10. If you find a TVLA Officer in the communal part of your property ask him to leave immediately.

11. If you film a TVLA Officer they have strict guidelines to health and safety. They are not only told to leave the property but also to leave the general area which messes up their visits .

12. Officers can only complete 3 separate visits to your property, these have to be done on the same day. The reason for this is to stop visit selection and hoarding. If you get visits on different days close together then question this and complain.

13. If you have to complain do so in writing, never give your correct name or other contact details because they will end up on the LASSY database. Insist on a written reply.

14. If you tell them it’s inconvenient to speak to them and they refuse to leave get your camera out.

15. If you receive a missed visit "Sorry we missed you card" and it has anything other than Date/Time/VPN - An occupiers name, this is against BBC guidelines, some officers have been know to write we will get a warrant on these, If you get one complain!

Petition to: why should we pay for tv licence and also digital.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

The BBC prepares for a future without television licence fee

Petition to: Scrap the BBC licence fee.

The BBC is building a customer information database to help it compete with commercial rivals should the licence fee be scrapped.

Because of its public funding model, the corporation has traditionally lagged behind rivals such as Sky and ITV in compiling customer data.

But the growth of interactive platforms such as video-on-demand, mobile TV and digital stations is generating more viewer data than ever before.

And in the next two years the BBC wants to deploy customer relationship management (CRM) software to enable it to deliver targeted content across its different platforms.

Managing the information could help the corporation improve its understanding of consumer needs, says BBC chief information officer Keith Little.

‘Systems to understand viewers have not been seen as a priority because we do not rely on commercial revenue,’ he said.

‘It has also been difficult to identify our audience, but the launch of online media means we can gather more information.’

The latest BBC charter, guarantees the corporation will be publicly funded for 10 years. But competition from satellite channels and the threat to broadcasting from on-demand internet content is forcing the BBC to prepare for changes that will spell the demise of the licence fee.

The BBC must prepare for a commercial future, says Gartner media analyst Adam Daums.

‘The official BBC line may be that, to justify the licence fee, CRM systems will help deliver more relevant content to viewers,’ said Daums. ‘But there are important discussions taking place about what happens if the licence fee is scrapped, and effective CRM is essential if it is to succeed commercially.’

The BBC’s new media services – such as provision of content to social networking site YouTube – are intended to drive customers to online and on-demand services.

But issues are already arising around the corporation’s exploitation of its unique position shored up by a public funding model.

For example, sector watchdog Ofcom launched a market assessment of the broadcaster’s proposed free-of-charge high-definition digital TV channel. The investigation will consider any impact on relevant commercial products and services.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

I couldn't believe this when i found this snipet of information, not only will they help the vunerable in our society but they'll prosecute you if you don't have a current tv licence. anyone heard of 'conflict of interest'

Petition to: Scrap the BBC licence fee.

The BBC has appointed Capita to run its digital switchover support scheme in Whitehaven.

The scheme, which has long been part of switchover plans, will offer help with the switch to digital if you are severely disabled, and people who are registered as partially sighted or blind.

The Capita contract runs for 10 months from June at a cost of £1m. Capita will provide a help centre in Whitehaven, a digital terrestrial set top box to eligible households, and post-switchover support to eligible people.

"Following a very competitive tendering process, I am pleased to announce that this first Digital Switchover Help Scheme has been awarded to Capita," said BBC group finance director Zarin Patel. "I am confident they will deliver a scheme that ensures the most vulnerable residents of Whitehaven receive the support they need as the switch to digital begins."

Other companies in the running for the contract were BT, EAGA and Vertex. All four companies are eligible to bid for the national switchover support contract covering 2008-2012.

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

The current licence fee-funding arrangement is totally anachronistic.

No other developed country funds their state broadcasting in the way or to the same extent any more. It worked in 1926, but unlike in 1926 we now have a myriad of commercial broadcasters and competition from other media . Furthermore, to claim that more than about 5% of the BBC's output fulfills a public service remit of the sort Reith or Grierson would recognise is simply unsustainable. The current arrangement, whereby you have to pay the BBC for permission to watch its rivals' broadcasts, is analogous to the Daily Telegraph having to fund itself entirely through advertising and the 70p cover price being given to the editors of The Guardian.

The BBC needs to be privatised, and replaced with a fund, provided from central taxation, to produce programmes which are clearly justified on cultural grounds but which are not commercially viable. Much of the output of Radios 3 & 4 would qualify, for example, as would heavyweight cultural TV programming, e.g. current affairs output and Simon Schama's history shows. Private sector broadcasters would be required to make room in their schedules for these programmes (uninterrupted by adverts) as a condition of their licence, and the fund would be administered by a board consisting of appointees from all political parties and a selection of independent experts, charged with ensuring neutrality.

The fact that we are forced to pay for what is in effect the world's largest left-wing political pressure group in order to receive the output of its competitors has no place in a modern democracy. It's an arrangement you should only find in a South American dictatorship.

:: View topic - Another Telegraph hate-fest

[NaRvIcK DeViL]

"BBC BULLIES' SHAME IN LICENCE FEE CHAOS "

By Ann Widdecombe

THERE was a time, not very long ago, when renewing a television licence was a straightforward business.

One merely walked into a post office, handed over the money and came away with a new licence.

Alas, as part of its campaign to make the sub post office redundant, the Government has removed this simple facility and has put nothing reliable in its place.

“Where is the nearest paypoint?” I asked the young team working in my office. Just imagine what the answer would be were it to be asked by an elderly person living in a rural location. As it was the answer to my query was no more encouraging.

“Forget paypoint,” my researcher told me. It transpired that when she had endeavoured to purchase a licence that way the merchant had no idea what the sum should be.

So I paid online and my next credit card statement showed the sum had been deducted almost immediately and three weeks before the payment was due. End of story, I thought, and persisted in that happy delusion until a week ago when a threatening letter arrived informing me that if I was using my TV it was in contravention of the Communications Act 2003 and committing an offence.

The letter was addressed to my late 95-year-old mother who had brought a television into my home when she came to live with me and had therefore taken responsibility for the licence.

I appreciate that most 95-year-olds would not have received such a letter as they would be exempt from payment but plenty of people in their early 70s might receive this threat and such people tend to be intimidated when informed they are breaking the law.

I would have dismissed this as a rare mistake if my constituency caseworker had not told me that he has received no fewer than 10 reminders despite having paid by direct debit and having rung TV Licensing on more than one occasion.
So in a small office of three people three have encountered difficulties, one with cash, one with online payment and one with direct debit. If that sample is grossed up nationally TV Licensing must be in a bigger administrative mess than the Child Support Agency.

I decided to complain officially and asked for the name of the chief executive of this incompetent outfit. The post apparently no longer exists but there is someone called head of revenue management at the BBC.

That is just as well as a visit to the website lists a bewildering number of companies involved in the licensing operation and any one of them might have been responsible.

Why did they not leave the entire operation with the Post Office, which was efficient and trustworthy? It is quite bad enough to have to pay tax (because that’s effectively what it is) to enable the BBC to churn out a diet of sex, bad language, irregular living and dumbed-down reality shows, if one wants to catch the odd good programme, without having this kind of hassle.

Meanwhile post offices are being axed in the sort of butchery that Beeching brought to the railways. It is, we are told, because they’re no longer viable.

Rot. They have been driven out of business by a Government which cannot run clean hospitals, teach primary school children to read, keep account of the numbers of immigrants entering the country or build enough prison places to keep felons where they belong.

TV licence-payers are just the latest victims of ineptitude and laziness. Payments are apparently collected in Bristol but might just as well be outsourced to Bangladesh for all the notice that is taken of those received.

I have suggested to my caseworker that the next time he receives a reminder for a payment he has already made he should write to the legal department of the BBC to threaten an action for harassment.

Nay, an ASBO might be more ap*propriate for this gang of pensioner-stalking muggers.

Link To Story:-

Daily Express: The World's Greatest Newspaper :: Columnists :: BBC bullies' shame in licence fee chaos

[Scottish_Republican]

Not often I agree with Ann Widdecombe, but she is right. I always used to pay my licence in the Post Office. So did many others. So why the hell did they stop it?

I think the Royal Mail and Post Office are being deliberately killed off.