We have been invited to put forward an organisational response of gransnetters' views to the consultation about what the BBC should do when the UK Government funding of licence fees for over-75 households comes to an end.
Today, all households with someone aged over 75 are entitled to receive free TV licences. The cost of this scheme has been funded by the UK Government since it was introduced in 2000. In 2020 the current scheme is set to come to an end - any new scheme after this needs to be decided on and paid for by the BBC.
Any age-related concession would mean the BBC would have less money, which would mean fewer programmes and services.
There are a number of options.
1) for the BBC to copy the existing scheme. This would cost the BBC at least £745 million a year, the equivalent of around a fifth of the BBC's budget today and around the same amount of money that the BBC currently spends on all of BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, the BBC News Channel, and the BBC children's channels CBBC and CBeebies. A major reduction in the BBC's services would be unavoidable. The BBC believes that this level of cuts to services would not be consistent with sustaining the BBC's mission and purposes for all audiences.
2) to restore a universal licence fee, and not have any age-targeted concession. This would return to the principle that existed up to 2000 that every household who receives BBC TV services should pay for them. While there would be a cost of around £72m in 2021/22 (and less in the years after that), the efficiency savings the BBC expects it can make mean the overall result of taking this option would be no significant cuts to BBC services. But it recognises this option would remove the concession from all older households. The concession was introduced to help relieve pensioner poverty, which is still an issue for some older people. We also recognise the significance of BBC programmes and services as an important source of enjoyment and companionship for the elderly.
3) reforming the concession, so that a concession for older age groups would still apply, but in a different way from at present. This approach could provide focused support to some in the older age group, and also allow the BBC to continue to deliver popular services that would otherwise have to close. This could be done by a) discounting the cost of a licence fee (so older people would pay a reduced rate) or b) raising the age threshold for the concession from 75. Or c) means-testing the concession for older people eg by linking free licences to one of the UK Government's measures of pensioner income, for example Pension Credit.
It would be really useful to have your views here on this thread on which of these three options you think would be best (and why). Many thanks