Bury's elderly residents might have free TV licences scrapped

According to new figures produced for the Labour Party by the House of Commons Library, 11,560 households occupied by pensioners in Bury could be among the millions set to lose their free licenses after 2020 if the benefit is scrapped.

TV licences have been free for over 75s since 2000. However, responsibility for the free TV licence policy, and the cost of licences, is devolved to the BBC from by the Government, as part of the corporation's latest charter.

The BBC is currently considering a range of options, Labour has said, from scrapping free TV licence concessions altogether to raising the age of eligibility to 80 or means testing it ­— such as linking it to pensions credit.

If the age threshold is raised to 80, the House of Commons Library estimates 6,870 Bury pensioners will lose their TV licences.

And 8,750 could lose them if they are means tested.

Bury North MP James Frith said: “The Tory Government knew what it was doing when it forced the cost of paying for free licences for over 75s out to the BBC.

"Labour was completely opposed to this and we are still firmly of the belief that the Government was totally wrong to outsource a social policy in this way.

"It will be a terrible blow to older people who already struggle to make ends meet and particularly to those who are housebound or isolated and rely on their TV for company."

Labour has also hit out at the Conservative alleging that the policy would represent U-turn on their 2017 General Election manifesto promise to protect free TV licences until 2022.

Mr Frith said: “The Tory Government needs come clean and to tell us urgently what they are going to do to ensure free TV licences aren’t cut and they don’t break their manifesto promise.

"If they do nothing, responsibility for older people losing their TV licences will rest firmly at their feet.”

The Campaign to End Loneliness found that 40 per cent of older people say that their television is their main source of company.