SCRAPPING FREE TV LICENCES WILL LEAD TO ‘CHAOS’
BBC and No10 urged to strike deal just 100 days before over-75s perk ends
PENSIONERS will be dragged through the courts amid confusion overTV licences, campaigners said last night.
MPs, peers and charities warned there was no way the BBC could discover who was eligible to pay – with just 100 days to go until most over-75s lose their free perk.
Leading protester Lord Foulkes said: “How is the BBC going to get this information?
“It’s just really unbelievable that it thinks it can find a system to do this between now and then.
“There will be total chaos and the people who will suffer, and will be left with fear and
worry, are the over-75s. The situation is so confused that some pensioners will end up in court by default.”
From June 1, four million people aged 75 and over will have to pay £157.50 every year for their TV licence. Only households claiming Pension Credit will continue to get it free.
However, around 1.2 million pensioners who are eligible for the benefit do not receive it. Many are unaware they are entitled to it and others do not want to admit they need the extra help.
As the clock ticks down to the free licences being scrapped, Age UK director Caroline Abrahams urged the Government and BBC to find a way to reverse the “disgraceful” decision.
She fears pensioners will accidentally end up as law breakers despite being model citizens.
Caroline said: “In exactly 100 days, millions of very old people are set to lose their free TV licence, leaving a sizeable minority on low incomes with the possibility of having to forego the pleasure and companionship they get from watching TV.
“The vast majority of older people are model citizens.
“One of our biggest worries is that some of the most vulnerable will inadvertently break the law – for example due to chronic ill health – because they will be unable to comply with any new charging regime put in place.
“Whether the legal consequences are criminal or civil is immaterial, their personal distress will be the same.
“In our view it is disgraceful to expose very old people to even the risk of this happening.”
Fellow campaigner and senior Conservative Sir Christopher Chope said a deal should be struck where the BBC agrees to maintain the free licences for over-75s.
In return, non-payment by the rest of the population would continue to be enforced in the courts. He said: “Time is running out and a decision has to be taken – and the Government needs to be absolutely firm with the BBC.
“If the BBC is not prepared to continue to allow over-75s to have a free licence then the Government must decriminalise the fee.
“It’s absolutely essential that they do that otherwise people are going to be facing criminal convictions.” Earlier this month, outgoing Culture Secretary Baroness Nicky
Morgan launched a public consultation on whether non-payment of the fee should remain a criminal offence. If it is decriminalised, the BBC would still be able to chase non-payers through the civil courts.
The corporation decided to axe free licences for the oldest pensioners last year, after taking over responsibility for the fee from the Government.
But the BBC continues to pay huge salaries to its biggest stars, with £1.75million-a-year football pundit Gary Lineker topping the list. Meanwhile, viewers using a TV or watching BBC iPlayer without paying the fee – if they are required to – are guilty of a criminal offence and could face a £1,000 fine.
Those who refuse to pay the penalty risk criminal conviction and imprisonment.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: “It is completely unacceptable to be subsiding people like Gary Lineker’s grotesque wages on the back of the over-75s. The sooner the licence fee is scrapped for everyone the better.”
The BBC said: “The reason we have decided to introduce a concession linked to Pension Credit is to ensure that the least well-off don’t have to pay.
“TV Licensing will operate a self-verification system where individuals simply need to demonstrate their receipt of Pension Credit in order to qualify.
Vulnerability
“Prosecution is always a last resort. TV Licensing’s prosecution policy already allows for consideration of people’s vulnerability and individual circumstances, and does not prosecute unless it is in the public interest to do so.”
A Government spokesman said: “We are disappointed with the BBC’s decision and have been clear we wanted and expected them to continue the concession. People across the country value television as a way to stay connected.”
THE BBC is heading for chaos if it presses ahead with plans to scrap free TV licences for the over-75s.This will only result in fear, stress and hardship for legions of law-abiding people who supported the broadcaster during their working lives and have not budgeted for the £157.50 bill.
The licence fee is a tax in all but name. Why should millionaires pay the same amount as pensioners who have to plan spending carefully to stay in the black?
Homes in which someone receives pension credit will be exempt from the fee but there are grave fears that an administrative fiasco awaits. About
1.2 million pensioners eligible for pension credit do not claim for it, so will these people be hounded to pay the fee?
Does the BBC have accurate details on pensioners’ benefits, and is it prepared to pursue non-payers in the courts?
When pressed to hand over scarce cash, many pensioners will say they no longer want to watch BBC services and would rather pay for Amazon and Netflix services so they can enjoy the likes of The Crown.
This is a public relations disaster in the making.