Our reporters hit the streets to talk to the public in our major cities across the UK about the news making the headlines this week. In this episode, we ask can you afford to go on a summer holiday this year, plus changes to restaurant tipping laws and free childcare rules.
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00:00 Welcome to the Verdict on the Street, the show that listens to its audience.
00:06 We're going to take some of the hottest topics out onto the streets of Britain to ask you what you think of them.
00:13 In a world that seems full of experts, sometimes it's the opinions of the people on the street that really matter.
00:19 So, Great British Public, it's over to you.
00:22 We send our reporters out into a number of cities across the UK, armed only with a camera and a microphone to ask simply, what do you think?
00:31 Today's episode is a cost of living special.
00:34 As households across the nation continue to feel the pinch, we ask,
00:39 should restaurants be forced to give tips directly to their staff?
00:43 Are summer holidays becoming too expensive?
00:46 And finally, should the government do more to help working parents?
00:51 A restaurant in London is scrap tipping, instead implementing a brand fee,
00:56 a 15% charge to customers that goes directly to the establishment rather than its employees.
01:02 We ask, should restaurants be forced to allocate tips directly to their staff,
01:07 many of whom are amongst the lowest paid workers in the country?
01:11 I don't really know. I don't mind in restaurants when there's no service charge and you get the chance to tip,
01:16 but I think it's wrong if they do put it on the bill.
01:19 That's my opinion, but my fellow house payers, I probably don't even take notice.
01:24 Well, I think the owners of the restaurants should look after the staff.
01:31 Because lots of us go in, they look after us.
01:36 We used to go out a lot, we did, and we just wanted to pay it up, put a few bob on the thing.
01:44 But yeah, I think it's nice to tip to pretty workers.
01:47 Really, the managers should pay the staff good wages, and OK, we always give tips and all that.
02:01 But I think it is good, because when you do go in most restaurants, especially in Liverpool,
02:05 you do get very good service, so do you know what I mean? I think it's quite fair.
02:10 Then when you're tipping for your service, apart from the chef,
02:14 if I'm tipping the staff in a restaurant, I'm tipping that person that's served me,
02:18 like the waiter or the waitress, or the barman, who should be theirs, who should get it.
02:23 Yeah, I think they definitely should be forced to give tips to staff.
02:26 Yeah, I would pay it if I had the money or not. I would just go to Spoons round the corner, probably.
02:30 I do work in hospitality. You don't make a lot of money as a hospitality worker,
02:34 so I think it's good to give you that wee extra boost if you want to go on a night out or something.
02:38 It kind of gives you the money to do that, and everyone needs to enjoy themselves.
02:42 It depends on how much money I've got in my pocket, in my purse.
02:46 I would say between 50p and £1, if I've got money in the pound, if not 50p.
02:52 I like to give it. The work has, so they deserve a wee tip.
02:55 I think they're being greedy. They can pay up with that marketing through their profits.
03:01 I don't think waitressing or waitering is a living wage,
03:06 and I do think the money should go to the waiters and the people who have put effort
03:10 into serving whoever's at the place, the restaurant, the food place.
03:16 I think the restaurant is taking advantage.
03:19 Yeah, don't hate the idea. I don't know if I'd necessarily go out of my way to pay.
03:24 I suppose if it was included, like most Brits, you would just pay it regardless.
03:28 But I think I probably prefer the idea that I'm tipping the person I can actually see
03:34 and the person who's been serving me throughout the meal.
03:38 It's a no from me. I'll leave the ladies finishing.
03:42 Listen, for a Brit, that's your own problem. That's marketing. Pay for it now.
03:46 What are you doing? If you want us to see your greatness, show us.
03:49 If anything, no. No. Fix your budget.
03:53 It would be fine to do brand tipping if they're going to increase the salaries of servers.
04:00 If not, then if you're leaving a tip, it's usually because you've had good service.
04:04 There's a lot of workers who have to work overtime and overtime for no additional pay
04:09 or called in for an extra hour but not get paid for that.
04:12 I think tipping culture in general is quite obscene.
04:16 I don't think it's necessary. If you just paid workers a fair wage, they wouldn't need to survive on tips.
04:20 And tipping companies, what is the point?
04:23 And this whole 15% brand fee, why would you want to support a brand?
04:30 We go in there to eat and the money that we pay for the restaurant is supposed to pay the workers.
04:36 Just pay the workers.
04:37 I think if the service is good, you would tip the personnel.
04:41 And that should really go to her or the staff.
04:46 Probably the person that you're happy with, but definitely not paying the service charge.
04:53 Many of us spend our working days dreaming of our upcoming jolly to Tenerife or Benidorm.
04:58 But as daily expenses surge, are summer holidays now too expensive?
05:04 I don't know, I haven't tried yet.
05:07 You see, I am putting a bit of money away for it, but I don't know.
05:14 I personally think that Liverpool, as well as all of the UK, has great...
05:19 It's very economical, I find it's very reasonable.
05:22 There's tons of free activities to do.
05:25 Most of the museums are free here.
05:28 Are you jetting off abroad at all this year?
05:31 Or do you like a staycation somewhere in the UK?
05:35 I don't think I'll be going abroad. If I do go away, it'll be in the UK.
05:40 No, I was hoping to go abroad.
05:44 I'm staying here. There's loads of stuff to do here.
05:47 Every day I find something new to do.
05:49 The buildings are amazing.
05:51 If you look up, they're very historical. They have gorg, gargoyles, angels.
05:56 Where else? By the docks.
05:59 There's so much to do there. Tons of restaurants. They all look amazing.
06:02 I'm a teacher assistant, so if I want to go away in the summer holidays,
06:06 the half-time holidays, the price increases in comparison to a week before.
06:10 It's absolutely ridiculous.
06:12 I was looking to go abroad, and it's like £100 to £200 more expensive
06:18 to go in term time than outside of term time.
06:22 It's a pain, especially as a teacher.
06:24 We will be going to Southern Ireland in June, and we'll be going to Fertiventura in November.
06:29 I've not noticed any massive increases in the costs.
06:34 We went last year and the year before, and they're still very similar prices.
06:38 I'm a student, so I definitely can't afford to go abroad right now.
06:41 I just want to try and see if I can get a part-time job and work as much as possible over the summer.
06:45 I've just looked at flights to Las Vegas. £735 return. Not bad.
06:50 But I think we're going to can Las Vegas because I just don't want to do it.
06:54 But the general getting out of the country flights and stuff, depending on where you want to go,
06:59 I'd say for the people doing the summer holidays, hats off to you.
07:03 The thing for me, which has always been the case, is how travel companies or holiday prices go up
07:09 when it's school holidays, and I'm not happy about that at all.
07:13 Even though all my children have grown up now, but that was always a bone of contention with me
07:20 with regards to holiday prices. Why they should go up.
07:24 Petrol doesn't go up during summer, and neither does food, but holiday prices go up.
07:31 Definitely, definitely. It's not fair. It's not fair on the teachers, it's not fair on the families,
07:36 because to go away in the summer holidays is extortionate.
07:41 I think something should be done about that. Whether they can do anything about it with the holiday agencies,
07:46 I don't know, but it is so expensive. Even to go away here, you talk about a caravan for well over £1000,
07:53 and you've still got your... And to go abroad, it's absolutely terrible.
07:58 So you can understand really why a lot of families do take their children out of school.
08:02 Parents of two-year-old children in England now qualify for free childcare.
08:06 Despite this progress, some argue that the government can be doing more. What do you think?
08:12 In days gone by, I always had a childminder. It was very expensive.
08:18 All of one's salary actually went on the childminder, more than the mortgage back in the day.
08:25 Couples have to work. Okay, they've chosen to have children, so it's their responsibility.
08:31 But at the same time, there should be some sort of help financially for them.
08:35 Anything that helps people with additional childcare can only be a good thing.
08:41 I do wonder how they're going to staff it, though, and what premises they're going to use,
08:47 because there's going to be a huge demand.
08:50 Perhaps more nursery places, more centres where they can take their children after school,
08:57 because sometimes it's not so much the time spent in the nursery, it's the after school, isn't it?
09:03 If you've got grandads or grandmothers, which I usually end up with, don't they?
09:08 Got a full time, practically.
09:10 I think so, because otherwise it doesn't seem worth the while actually working.
09:18 And I suppose generally, without making assumptions, it's normally the female who looks after the children,
09:27 and generally the male would go out and work. It's not always the case, no.
09:33 Cost of childcare is balancing it out, whereas with your working, it just doesn't seem worth it.
09:40 I do not have kids, but I do believe there should be done more about it,
09:45 because I've heard of friends that they have kids, and they told me that their mortgage is actually cheaper
09:54 than their own childcare, which is ridiculous.
09:58 And some people, they cannot afford it as well, when they both work full time.
10:03 One of them has to stay at home, or take the day off from work to take care of the kids, which I find ridiculous.
10:10 I think, I mean, in London, definitely, because it's more expensive, but in general, yes, I think so.
10:17 I mean, I haven't got kids myself, but I know friends of mine are starting to have kids,
10:22 and they're concerned about, yeah, it is very expensive in terms of childcare, and like, yeah.
10:29 Do you think more should be done to help parents with childcare in the UK?
10:35 For sure, yeah. I mean, obviously, I don't have kids. I plan on maybe, eventually, but yeah, childcare is mega,
10:44 and the prices for that shouldn't be too high, especially because raising a child shouldn't cost extra money for the family.
10:51 It just feels a bit wrong, but yeah, I agree. It should come down.
10:54 Childcare in this country is blooming expensive. I know I've got friends who've got kids I haven't,
10:59 mainly for that reason, it's just too expensive. And I seem to remember when I was a kid,
11:03 there wasn't even, we didn't even have to pay for nursery.
11:06 It was just a standard thing within the curriculum that we went to.
11:09 There's, yeah, there definitely needs to be more places, but everything needs to expand
11:13 to accommodate everything that we're throwing at it.
11:16 I'm in a bit of an unusual position. It was really good for us when we had the 30 hours free childcare.
11:20 Obviously, my daughter's now in school, and I'm a teacher, so we don't need childcare throughout the summer holidays,
11:26 or the holidays generally, but I think any extra free or reduced childcare for working families is always a good thing in my view.
11:34 Obviously, I'm out of the age range where childcare's a problem,
11:38 but I do understand that for a lot of working families, it's a very, very major expense,
11:43 and I don't really know what sort of assistance they get.
11:47 I do understand that it is a problem, and it probably prevents a lot of people from going to work.
11:53 [ Silence ]
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