BBC TV licence ‘outreach’ team plan criticised
The benefit will be restricted to those on pension credit from June next year, with the BBC saying it cannot afford to take on the financial burden from the Government.
The BBC is set to discontinue the benefit after having its budget cut by the Government by around a fifth.
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Hide AdThe broadcaster recently told MPs that over-75s will have home visits from BBC “outreach” teams.
Age UK said that many pensioners, including those who find it difficult to dress, bathe and get out of bed, will struggle with the procedure of paying or even confirming that they are entitled to a free TV licence.
Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “The idea that more than a million over-75s who are coping with serious health and care challenges will be able to comply with a new TV licence process, having never done so before, is cloud cuckoo land. However straightforward the process, it will still defeat many of them, unless they have friends and family who can help, and unfortunately a lot don’t.”
Age UK said that more than a quarter –29 per cent – of over-75s in the UK have difficulty with at least one activity of daily living. The BBC’s director of policy Clare Sumner told a Commons select committee earlier this month that the home visits would be done “as sympathetically as possible”.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, leading celebrities including Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Vera Lynn, Lenny Henry and Ben Fogle have joined forces to help pensioners who stand to lose their free TV licences.
And Age UK started a petition demanding the government reverse its decision.
It has gathered more than 600,000 signatures. The Express and its sister titles are asking the government to take action to solve the problem.