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Information Policy & Compliance
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bbc.co.uk/privacy
Keith Morton
via e-mail:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
8 July 2019
Dear Mr Morton,
Freedom of Information Request - RFI20191017
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) dated 13 June
2019, seeking the following information:
‘Ref petition on the subject of free tv licence for over 75 age group, I wasn’t aware of this until the
decision was announced could you briefly explain how you went about this and supply me with
details of their ages and the areas in which they live in particular how many rural areas.’
Consultation (now closed)
The BBC’s consultation on TV licences for older people was open from 20 November 2018 to 12
February 2019 and is now closed.
https://www.bbc.com/yoursay/BBC%20consultation%20document.pdf
The Government decided to stop funding free licences for all over 75s, and Parliament gave the
BBC the clear responsibility to decide the future policy. We’ve reached the fairest decision we
can so we protect the poorest pensioners while ensuring everyone will continue to receive the
best programmes and services that the BBC can provide.
Copying the current scheme was ultimately untenable. It would have cost £745 million a year by
2021/22 - and risen to over one billion by the end of the next decade. £745 million a year is
equivalent to around a fifth of the BBC’s spending on services. The scale of the current
concession and its quickly rising cost would have meant profoundly damaging closures of major
services that we know audiences - and older audiences in particular - love, use, and value every
day.
190,000 people took part in our consultation, there was strong support for the BBC and there
was little public appetite for us to close particular services because people recognised the
important role of the BBC. We want to work with organisations representing older age groups
and charities to help raise the visibility of Pension Credit as a way of claiming a free TV licence.
We’ll also introduce a new payment plan for pensioners aged 75 or over who are eligible to pay
including smaller fortnightly instalments
The BBC has published the following information in relation to the changes to the over 75 TV
licence scheme.
BBC decision
This document describes how the BBC Board has reached its decision, and the factors it has
taken into account:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/decision-document.pdf
Equality Impact Assessment
The Equality Impact Assessment which the Board has considered in making its decision:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/updated-eia.pdf
Consultation responses and supporting evidence
On 20 November 2018, the BBC opened a 12 week consultation on TV licences for older people.
More than 190,000 people shared their views with us. These views are set out in four reports
commissioned by the BBC, and published in full.
A report from Traverse, analysing responses from around 85,000 members of the public to the
BBC’s consultation:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/traverse.pdf
A BBC stakeholder report analysing responses from 115 stakeholders to the BBC’s consultation
including surveys such as the one carried out by 38 Degrees which had almost 100,000
responses:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/stakeholders.pdf
A report from Populus summarising interviews with 115 stakeholders:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/populus.pdf
A report from Ipsos MORI who conducted additional qualitative research with over 250 members
of the public:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age/ipsos-mori.pdf
Stakeholder responses
The BBC received 115 responses from stakeholders. Where permission has been given or
responses are already in the public domain, these are published at the following link:
https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact us
at the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your reference
number. If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can appeal to the Information
Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
(national rate) or se
e http://www.ico.org.uk/. Yours sincerely
Information Rights
