BBC plotting to axe free TV licences for the over-75s

THE BBC was feared to be gearing up to scrap free TV licences for over75s last night after it warned that maintaining the scheme would swallow a fifth of its budget.

The broadcaster said continuing to offer older viewers free licences would ‘fundamentally change the BBC’ and lead to cuts to its services as it began a consultation on the issue.

The BBC insisted it was ‘not backing any particular option over another’, but claimed that the cost of the free licence would have a ‘significant impact’.

The scheme is currently Governmentfunded but in 2020 the BBC is due to take on the full cost, which is forecast to reach £1.06billion by 2030.

Scrapping free TV licences for over-75s would be a controversial move likely to provoke a storm of protest from pensioners.

Labour MP Ian Lucas, who sits on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports select committee, said it could exacerbate loneliness and leave older people isolated. He said: ‘I’m sure a lot of people would be very concerned at having to pay the extra £150 for a TV licence. It’s an important part of elderly people’s lives – they are involved through television in the community. There’s a danger of increased isolation and loneliness.

‘This is a massive problem for the BBC because of the amount of money involved.’

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said the TV was the ‘main form of companionship’ for a quarter of older people.

She added: ‘The question for the BBC is therefore how they intend to fulfil the responsibility they have taken on as regards the TV licence concession for the over-75s, who are among their most loyal and committed viewers and listeners, the majority of whom live on only modest incomes.’

BBC chairman Sir David Clementi said the broadcaster’s board, which will make the final decision, ‘does not underestimate the significance of the decision, its implications for the BBC and its audiences’.

It is looking at a number of options regarding the licence fee, including continuing the current free scheme for over-75s, but a spokesman added: ‘That could cost around a fifth of our budget – the equivalent to what we spend today on all of BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, the BBC News Channel, CBBC and CBeebies.

‘We think it would fundamentally change the BBC because of the scale of service cuts we would need to make.’

The corporation acknowledges that making the over-75s pay for licences would affect poorer households and those who rely on it for companionship.

It said: ‘This would mean the BBC would not have to make significant cuts to BBC services, but would have an impact on those over-75s, particularly poorer pensioners.

‘The concession was introduced to help relieve pensioner poverty, which is still an issue for some older people.

‘We also recognise the significance of BBC programmes and services as an important source of enjoyment and companionship for the elderly. We are an important service for older people who consume lots of BBC programmes and services.’

It is predicted that providing free licences for over-75s would cost £745million a year by 2021/22 and exceed £1billion a decade later.

The BBC said it was also considering several options for reforming the scheme.

These include raising the age of eligibility for a free licence to 80, which would align the scheme with other benefits, such as higher winter fuel payments. It would cut the cost by about a third to £481million but leave 1.87million households paying the full £150.50 licence fee.

A discount scheme in which over-75s paid half the fee would cost around £415million a year. Means-testing for households of those aged 75 would be linked to Pension Credit, meaning around 900,000 households would receive a free TV licence. Some 3.75 million households would lose it.

The broadcaster said ‘any choice would have its merits and its drawbacks’ and that it was ‘not backing any particular option over another today’ as it opened a three-month consultation which is open to the public and can be found on the BBC website. Its board ‘hopes to make a decision by the summer’.

A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it ‘wants and expects’ the BBC to ‘continue with this important concession’.

‘There’s a danger of increased isolation’