Post by Teddy Bear on Oct 19, 2010 18:34:57 GMT
The article about the attitude of the BBC as shown by their response to the proposal that they fund the over 75's free licence fee speaks for itself.
I hope the government has enough guts to carry it through and make the BBC reduce its bloated surplus - it'll be good for starters.
I hope the government has enough guts to carry it through and make the BBC reduce its bloated surplus - it'll be good for starters.
Budget cuts will give the BBC a taste of the real world
By Harry Phibbs
The Government is proposing that the BBC, with its astonishingly bloated budget, should make some contribution to the public sector economy drive.
The idea is that the BBC should pick up the cost of the free TV licence fees for the over 75s - rather than the present arrangement where the Government hands over the revenue.
I think the arrogant reaction of the BBC vindicates the proposal - which I hope will be confirmed in the Comprehensive Spending Review tomorrow.
They say it could lead to a real terms decrease in its programming budget of up to 26 per cent – the equivalent of the entire budget of BBC2. They say the ‘only solution’ would be a £20 licence fee increase as it is quite impossible for them to find any savings.
But the decision on the level of the licence fee is not a matter for the BBC. What are they suggesting - that they can just charge us as much as they like?
The comment about closing down BBC2 is also very revealing. As John Redwood said yesterday: ‘If one of our big food retailers wants its stores to cut their costs by three per cent, the managers do not normally respond to the boss’s e-mail by saying that means they will have to shut the bread department.
‘They usually work up a proposal to improve stock turn or lower purchasing costs or use staff more effectively. Public sector managers need to adopt a similar approach.’
The BBC spent £4.79 billion last year, including £3.45 billion from the licence fee. This year the fee revenue will be £3.6 billion, with other income also expected to rise.
The revenue from the Government for paying the over-75s’ licence fee is £556 million. So we are looking at spending cuts of 10 or 11 per cent. Somehow the Beeb immediately talks about taking 25 per cent out of making programmes.
It seems bureaucracy is sacrosanct. The 92 BBC suits on more than £150,000 a year are deemed untouchable. It is also absurd to say that when it comes to programme-making savings could only come from making fewer programmes or poorer quality programmes. The inefficiency and overmanning in the BBC's programme-making is beyond belief. Yet the ratings buster continues to be Dad's Army repeats.
The BBC is, at least, consistent in its policy on spending cuts for itself and the rest of the public sector. On its website it has an interactive section entitled Spending Review: What would you cut? It allows you to move a slide along for different Government Departments to reach £50 billion of savings.
But alongside, it gives you an ‘equivalent to’ section. The one on welfare only offers cuts in the basic state pension. According to the BBC, a one per cent cut in the health budget means leaving the hospitals empty for 10 days a year. Defence cut means ‘fewer service personnel’ - even though there are more civil servants in the MOD than soldiers in the armed forces.
The examples ‘are for illustration only.’ But how revealing that none of the examples ‘for illustration only’ involve cuts in the civil service, or the £40 billion spent on Quangos, or even our £14.5 billion budget contribution to the EU.
A 10 per cent budget saving will give the BBC some modest sense of the real world. They should not be allowed to put the licence fee up for the rest of us by a penny.
By Harry Phibbs
The Government is proposing that the BBC, with its astonishingly bloated budget, should make some contribution to the public sector economy drive.
The idea is that the BBC should pick up the cost of the free TV licence fees for the over 75s - rather than the present arrangement where the Government hands over the revenue.
I think the arrogant reaction of the BBC vindicates the proposal - which I hope will be confirmed in the Comprehensive Spending Review tomorrow.
They say it could lead to a real terms decrease in its programming budget of up to 26 per cent – the equivalent of the entire budget of BBC2. They say the ‘only solution’ would be a £20 licence fee increase as it is quite impossible for them to find any savings.
But the decision on the level of the licence fee is not a matter for the BBC. What are they suggesting - that they can just charge us as much as they like?
The comment about closing down BBC2 is also very revealing. As John Redwood said yesterday: ‘If one of our big food retailers wants its stores to cut their costs by three per cent, the managers do not normally respond to the boss’s e-mail by saying that means they will have to shut the bread department.
‘They usually work up a proposal to improve stock turn or lower purchasing costs or use staff more effectively. Public sector managers need to adopt a similar approach.’
The BBC spent £4.79 billion last year, including £3.45 billion from the licence fee. This year the fee revenue will be £3.6 billion, with other income also expected to rise.
The revenue from the Government for paying the over-75s’ licence fee is £556 million. So we are looking at spending cuts of 10 or 11 per cent. Somehow the Beeb immediately talks about taking 25 per cent out of making programmes.
It seems bureaucracy is sacrosanct. The 92 BBC suits on more than £150,000 a year are deemed untouchable. It is also absurd to say that when it comes to programme-making savings could only come from making fewer programmes or poorer quality programmes. The inefficiency and overmanning in the BBC's programme-making is beyond belief. Yet the ratings buster continues to be Dad's Army repeats.
The BBC is, at least, consistent in its policy on spending cuts for itself and the rest of the public sector. On its website it has an interactive section entitled Spending Review: What would you cut? It allows you to move a slide along for different Government Departments to reach £50 billion of savings.
But alongside, it gives you an ‘equivalent to’ section. The one on welfare only offers cuts in the basic state pension. According to the BBC, a one per cent cut in the health budget means leaving the hospitals empty for 10 days a year. Defence cut means ‘fewer service personnel’ - even though there are more civil servants in the MOD than soldiers in the armed forces.
The examples ‘are for illustration only.’ But how revealing that none of the examples ‘for illustration only’ involve cuts in the civil service, or the £40 billion spent on Quangos, or even our £14.5 billion budget contribution to the EU.
A 10 per cent budget saving will give the BBC some modest sense of the real world. They should not be allowed to put the licence fee up for the rest of us by a penny.