The TaxPayers' Alliance - Burning our Money

Shocking bonuses at the BBC

Trust in the BBC is non-existent. Its most popular programmes were recently rumbled, exposing a widespread phone-in scam that fleeced thousands of license-fee payers who thought they were taking part in legitimate competitions. They were even caught out in the Telegraph this morning by digitally generating parts of their ‘factual’ programming.

The BBC name is now associated with left-wing bias, incompetence and mistrust. So, our readers will be incensed to hear that the BBC has gone on a bonus-spending-spree, handing out £20 MILLION worth of bonuses to its employees. In a shocking INCREASE on last year’s bonuses, the equivalent to 143,000 license fees were handed to BBC staff in what has been assumed to be its worst year on record.

Are we getting value for money? Not in anyone’s books.

In the real world – usually outside the domain of government subsides and state monopolies – when someone fails miserably, they don’t receive a bonus. But things are different for the Beeb. They argue their bonuses are part of the staff’s “contractual entitlement”, meaning there is no incentive whatsoever to provide high-quality programming, impartial news and worthwhile entertainment.

This is what happens when there’s no competition on the box. We have to pay a tax to even be allowed to watch TV – a levy going to subsidise the BBC who quite clearly aren’t worth the money. Let’s scrap the TV tax and see if the BBC survives on subscriptions from those who actually want to pay for the BBC. If it’s good for other TV stations, it’s good for the BBC too.

Rewards for failure expose hypocrisy of the politicians

The Department for Work and Pensions announced today that there will be a 5% cut in the funding of the Council Tax benefits service. The Local Government Authority is claiming that unless there are “significant increases in council tax”, these cuts would lead to a decline in benefits.

"The LGA said the cuts would result in either a reduced benefits service or "substantial increases in council tax .... LGA vice chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham described the proposed funding cut as "unreasonable and unfair." - BBC

Of course, we all know in reality that council tax will just go up yet again to plug this gap whilst local government continues to waste our money and resources, and services for local people will continue to deteriorate. What’s really “unreasonable and unfair” is the regressive, extortionate council tax. Council tax increases beat inflation year after year.

Indeed since 1995 whilst income and pensions have increased by 50 and 38 percent respectively, council tax has more than doubled! Unsurprisingly then, council tax is driving taxpayers, and pensioners in particular, into poverty. It is council tax that hurts the very poorest and most vulnerable, and enforced cuts to benefit administration in local government will just fall back as a cost on local residents in the shape of future council tax rises.

When it comes to plugging "holes" in budgets, town hall bureaucrats have form.