The good news? BBC to delay axing free licence
THE BBC announced it will delay scrapping free TV licences for millions of over-75s due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Corporation bosses were planning to drastically scale back the benefit on June 1, with only those on pension credit still entitled to it.
But yesterday in a joint statement with the Government, the broadcaster said the start date for the new rules will be pushed back to the first day of August. The corporation and ministers said they did not want the elderly to be ‘worried’ about dealing with licence changes during a health crisis.
The BBC said in these ‘exceptional circumstances’ it had to be ‘fully focused’ on delivering public services.
Yesterday, the charity Age UK, which has been leading the fight to keep free TV licences for all over-75s, branded the move ‘a victory for common sense’ but questioned if the delay would be ‘anything like long enough’.
Tory MP Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, also welcomed the news, but said the delay offered a ‘shortterm fix to a much wider problem’ and that it needed resolving ‘once and for all’.
The joint statement said the BBC and the Government had discussed the virus outbreak, and decided the corporation’s ‘priority’ was to do ‘everything we can to serve the nation at this uniquely challenging time’.
The statement added: ‘As the national broadcaster, the BBC has a vital role to play in supplying information to the public in the weeks and months ahead.
Recognising the exceptional circumstances, the BBC board has therefore decided to change the start date of the new policy... We will of course keep the issue under review as the situation continues to evolve.’
BBC chairman Sir David Clementi said of the delay yesterday: ‘We are in exceptional circumstances. Now is not the right time.’
Up to 3.7million pensioners will lose their free TV licences scheme, which saw the BBC take over responsibility for funding the scheme from the Government. According to estimates, the two-month delay in cutting back free TV licences will cost the BBC in the region of £85million.