The government has forced the BBC to start paying for the TV licence for the over 75s from 2020. As a result, the BBC is now trying to scrap it as a universal benefit.
The National Pensioner’s Convention is holding a protest on Thursday 7 March 2019, 12 noon at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 100 Parliament Street (off Whitehall) to condemn the BBC plans to scrap free TV licences for the elderly.
* One in four older people say the TV is their main source of companionship.
* 1.9m older people are already in poverty, and the figure is rising. Scrapping the TV licence will force more pensioners into hardship.
* Free TV access provides a crucial link to the outside world, particularly those who are chronically lonely or in poor health and housebound.
* It is not the broadcaster’s responsibility to fund welfare policy. That is why the government must continue to pay for the over 75s TV licence.
More than 4.46 million homes with older residents currently receive a free TV licence, saving them £150.50 a year.
During charter renewal negotiations in 2015, the government forced the cost onto the BBC so that the licences were no longer classed as a state-funded welfare benefit.
Plans to change or abolish free TV licences came from Frontier Economics, an international financial consultancy advising the BBC, which found that pensioners are becoming better off.
The National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) condemned the proposals, saying pensioners were as poor now as they were when the free licences were introduced 20 years ago.
NPC general secretary Jan Shortt said: “Ever since [then chancellor] George Osborne forced the BBC to take over responsibility for the free TV licence, we have known that they would try and get rid of it.
“Frankly, it’s not the job of the broadcaster to administer or fund part of our wider welfare policy.
“That is a job for government and it needs to be returned to the most suitable department as a matter of urgency.”
For further information on the protest, please call 020 7837 6622 or email info@npcuk.org