Fury at ‘raids’ on homes of elderly

THE BBC triggered a furious backlash yesterday over plans to send ‘outreach teams’ to over-75s who haven’t paid their licence fees.

Elderly pensioners who fail to pay the £154.50 for a colour licence or give proof they are exempt will get a knock at the door.

The BBC described the direct approaches as ‘support visits’ during a hearing at the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, where director-general Tony Hall batted away a suggestion to exempt D-Day veterans or switching to a Netflixstyle subscription model.

But critics branded the move ‘crass and insensitive’ and ‘traumatic’ for elderly homeowners. One compared the scheme to having a visit from the Stasi. It also emerged yesterday that bungling outsourcing giant Capita will be responsible for recruiting ‘specifically-trained care field staff’ to go to pensioners’ homes. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘The thought of the heavyhanded Capita enforcement teams descending on vulnerable over-75s, some of whom will be suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia, is absolutely unpalatable.’

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted: ‘The BBC will send bailiffs round to octogenarians and calls them an “outreach team”, Humpty Dumpty would be impressed by such linguistic gymnastics.’ John O’Donnell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said it was ‘ludicrous... that pensioners face the threat of an investigator showing up at their home’. Another Twitter user, Jane Ramella, wrote: ‘BBC STASI by any other name!’ Capita, which already collects TV licence fees on behalf of the BBC, was exposed by the Daily Mail two years ago for using an aggressive incentive scheme that targeted the vulnerable with enforcement officers.

The BBC has footed the bill for 3.7 million older people to receive free licences since funding negotiations with the Government in 2015. Previously the benefit was paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions.

It now claims the £750 million annual cost is unaffordable. A BBC spokesman said yesterday: ‘We are recruiting a specific group of staff as customer support workers to over75s. Their sole purpose is to help people apply for their licence including a free licence – and raise awareness of pension credit as we recognise that this group may welcome more personal support...’

‘Ludicrous that OAPs face this threat’