BBC boss says blame the Government for scrapping of free TV licences for over-75s – Yorkshire Post letters

From: Clare Sumner, Director of Policy, BBC.
The BBc is defending its plan to scrap free TV licences for all pensioners aged over 75.The BBc is defending its plan to scrap free TV licences for all pensioners aged over 75.
The BBc is defending its plan to scrap free TV licences for all pensioners aged over 75.

THERE’S been a lot of discussion of the BBC’s decision on the future of free TV licences for over-75s. I know readers have strong feelings.

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It’s important to be clear about the background. It was the Government who decided to stop paying for free TV licences. Parliament then gave the BBC responsibility to decide on any new scheme, which we would then need to pay for.

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This left us with an incredibly tough decision. Continuing to offer free licences to all over 75s beyond 2020 would cost us £745m a year – and rising.

That’s equivalent to around a fifth of what we spend today 
on all our programmes and services. This is not money we can simply make up by cutting presenter or manager pay, as some have suggested.

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In reality, it would mean closing a whole range of services, including BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC Radio 5 Live, some local radio stations and more – services which so many people, not least older people, love and rely on.

But we also knew it wouldn’t be fair simply to allow all free licences to end, as that would hit the poorest older pensioners hardest. Our challenge was to balance what’s fair for older audiences with what’s fair for everyone. We carried out our largest-ever public consultation – over 190,000 took part.

Ultimately, we decided to introduce a new scheme that will provide extra help to those who, according to the Government’s definition, need it most. 86,392 households across Yorkshire and Humber with someone who is currently over 75, and claims Pension Credit, will still be eligible for a free licence.

We believe this is the fairest decision. Everyone’s free licence is valid until the end of May. We’ll be writing to every one of your readers who currently receives a free licence to tell them what they need to do. We’ll be working with older people, charities and voluntary organisations to get this right. We’ll also be introducing new plans to support those paying for the first time, including simple payment schemes to help spread the cost.

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For some, this may well help them to take up the Pension Credit they are entitled to. Less than two-thirds of over 75s who are currently eligible to claim do so. For new claimants, that’s worth on average around £2,500 a year. And it means accessing other benefits as well as a free TV licence.

If the BBC’s decision drives up the number of people who claim, then many will end up better off. That really would be a positive impact.