SCRAPPING FREE TV LICENCE ‘ACT OF CRUELTY’
Dame Esther blasts threat to charge over-75s
CHARITIES and campaign groups reacted furiously to plans to cut free TV licences for the UK’s oldest pensioners last night.
Dame Esther Rantzen, founder of The Silver Line telephone helpline for lonely older people, said: “It would be an act of cruelty to deprive them of a television if they could not afford to pay the licence fee.”
A discussion paper commissioned by the BBC has described the concession as “no longer justified” as the wealth of over-75s had “improved significantly”.
It insisted there had been “profound economic changes” since the benefit was introduced and noted that pensioners are
now the “least likely age group” to live in poverty.
But the proposal prompted widespread and immediate criticism from campaigners and charities who pointed out that many older people live in poverty and rely on their televisions to combat loneliness.
Latest figures show 1.9 million pensioners still live in poverty – including nearly one in five over-75s.
As many as 3.6 million older people in the UK live alone, more than two million of whom are 75-plus, and one in four older people views the television as their main form of companionship.
Dame Esther said: “The Silver Line receives thousands of calls from older people through the evening, especially on long winter nights when the TV is their only friend.
“They have paid the licence fee all their lives – this is the way the BBC can give something back.”
National Pensioners Convention general secretary Jan Shortt called on the Government to take the licence concession back “in-house”.
Ms Shortt said: “Ever since George Osborne forced the BBC to take over responsibility for the free TV licence, we have known that they would try and get rid of it.
“Frankly it’s not the job of the broadcaster to administer or fund part of our wider welfare policy. That is a job for government and it needs to be returned to the most suitable department as a matter of urgency.”
Laura Alcock-Ferguson of the Campaign to End Loneliness, said: “Television provides a great comfort for many lonely older people.
“It can give structure and routine and make you feel as though you’re part of something. The prospect of that being taken away could have a devastating impact on older people experiencing loneliness.”
More than 4.46 million homes with older residents receive a free TV licence, saving them £150.50 a year.
But the BBC is reported to be preparing proposals on reforming the subsidy, which could include raising the age of eligibility and means-testing.
Options could also include asking for voluntary payments and removing the subsidy from pensioners who live with younger family.
The report by Frontier Economics, on behalf of the BBC, says by 2022 the cost to the corporation will be £745million – more than double the £365million paid by the Government in 2002.
Former Labour business minister Ian Lucas yesterday urged Theresa May to halt any cuts. The Prime Minister said it was up to the BBC to “take a decision about how they operate on this”.
The broadcaster’s report says when the concession was introduced, it was justified “based on evidence that older pensioner households were disproportionately concentrated at the bottom of the income distribution”.
It also says: “Incomes, wealth and life expectancy of older people have improved significantly. Pensioner poverty rates have fallen, and older households report higher wellbeing on a range of metrics.
“These changes give cause for reflection on what an appropriate approach to providing concessionary licences to older households might look like.”
A BBC spokesman said: “There are important issues to consider. We will do nothing without consulting with the public. Everyone who wants to contribute will be able to do so.”