Contributions
1,036 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDBBCAs my hon. Friend is aware, the issue of decriminalisation has been subject to a lengthy consultation. The Government are now considering the very large number of responses to…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI would say to anybody facing that kind of choice that they will almost certainly be entitled to pension credit, and if they are not currently in receipt of it, they should…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI very much agree with my hon. Friend. It is important to bear in mind that although the BBC is under financial pressure like many other organisations, it benefits from the…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCThe Government seek to publicise pension credit availability as widely as possible, but the BBC has now said that it will write a letter to every single pensioner over 75 and I…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCThat is a matter for the BBC, obviously, but I share my hon. Friend’s surprise that the BBC decided that “Little Britain” was so unacceptable. Certain programmes that were…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCFirst, there were a number of options available to the BBC for how to reduce the costs of the over-75s exemption. The BBC chose to abolish it in its entirety, but there were…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI thank my hon. Friend. He is right about the cost of maintaining free TV licences for all over-75s, which is already approaching £750 million and would go on rising. Any…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI remind the hon. Gentleman that at the time of the licence fee settlement in 2015, the Government were still having to put right the mess that they had inherited, due to the…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI agree with my right hon. Friend. The charter of the BBC makes it plain, as one of the five public purposes, that it is the responsibility of the BBC to reflect, represent and…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCThe decisions taken at the time of the licence fee settlement in 2015 were the result of lengthy negotiations with the BBC, in which it received a number of concessions that it…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCIn the case of the BBC, the majority of its staff are of course paid with public money and therefore were not eligible for furlough, but there are some BBC employees who work for…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI absolutely stand by the wording of the 2019 manifesto. It remains the case that the Government recognise the value of these licences and believe that the BBC should have…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI join the hon. Lady in thanking the BBC for all that it did to maintain educational programming during lockdown. As for the contribution that it makes to the independent…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI agree with my hon. Friend. In the service that the BBC provides across the UK, in all the different communities, it is absolutely essential that it tries to sustain support for…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI am aware of some of the concerns that my hon. Friend refers to. Obviously it is not a matter for the Government to pass judgment on BBC programming, but it is possible for…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI very much hope that those on low incomes will take up pension credit and so continue to be able to watch television, but of course there are other means. If people are anxious…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI have considerable sympathy with the points that my hon. Friend makes. We are not yet at the point where we could consider moving to a subscription service, because a lot of…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI sympathise with the right hon. Gentleman. It was of course as a result of the most recent charter renewal that we now know how many people in the BBC are paid over £150,000 per…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCAs I indicated earlier, I am concerned at the extent of the reductions taking place in the regional programming budget. I do not think that savings should be spread equally, and…21 Jul 2020HANSARDBBCI have discussed the implications of reductions with the director for England and the director for nations and regions at the BBC. However, I would draw attention to the BBC’s…21 Jul 2020