It’stimeto standup forolder people inBritain Ricky backs battle to save free TV licences for the elderly
ROYLE Family star Ricky Tomlinson today backs the battle to save free TV licences for the over-75s.
The 79-year-old said it was time to “speak up and stand up for older people in our country”.
A 12-week BBC consultation on the benefit’s future closes tomorrow.
Currently all households with someone aged 75 or over in them are entitled to a free licence, worth £150.50, rising to £154.50 in April.
The Conservatives pledged at the 2017 election to maintain the benefit for the length of this Parliament, due to run until 2022.
But OAPs face being stripped of the lifeline after the Tories stitched up a deal in 2015 to make the corporation responsible for funding the £745million-a-year perk from June 2020.
Options put forward by the BBC include scrapping them, replacing them with a 50 per cent concession for over-75s, lifting the threshold for eligibility to 77 or 80, or meanstesting so those who get pension credits are able to claim them.
Throwing his weight behind Age UK’s Switched Off campaign, Ricky said: “I’m outraged that free TV licences for over-75s are under threat.
“A shocking three in 10 of this age group live in poverty or just above the poverty line – something I cannot believe in this day and age – and it’s these people who will find it almost impossible to pay for a TV licence.
“It’s not a small amount either – they will have to find at least an extra £154.50 a year when they are already struggling to pay for the essentials like heating and food.
“TV means the world to so many older people, especially those who are disabled and those who can’t get out and about like they used to. It is the only form of companionship for many who are lonely.
“Much more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable older people around us all.
“I fear cuts to the free TV licences will only be the start of things to come.”
Our sister paper the Mirror has seen evidence submitted to the consultation by two leading campaign groups, Age UK and the National Pensioners Convention.
Both call for the Government to carry on funding the benefit.
The NPC says: “For many years the free TV licence has been part of the Department for Work and Pensions remit, and quite rightly has been seen as part of government’s wider welfare role in tackling social isolation among the older generation.
“The BBC has no such obligation or responsibility to tackle this issue – it is the responsibility of the Government.”
For OAPs who would “simply not be able to pay the fee there would be total isolation and no access to the wider world and daily life,” it warns.
The NPC wants to “return financial responsibility for this concession to the Government, as part of the universal pensioner benefits given in lieu of a decent, living state pension”.
Age UK warns that “removing or limiting the concession would have a major impact on the lives of many of our oldest citizens, particularly the most vulnerable who are living with some combination of disability, low income and loneliness”.
The charity says: “The Government should take back responsibility for funding the free licence.”