10 signatures reached
To: BBC
Save Free TV Licence for over 75s
Cease and desist from abolishing the TV Licence Fee for over 75s.
A recent report by Frontier Economics, commissioned by the BBC and presumably paid for by TV Licence payers, has recommended the abolition of the free TV Licence for over 75s or raising the threshold to perhaps 80.. The report claims that pensioners are now financially better of and much healthier and less in need of this kind of support from the BBC. This flies in the face of Age Concern who say “There are two million people aged 75-plus, one in two of whom are disabled and one in four of whom view the television as their main form of companionship.' Age Concern are in a far better position to judge the position of the elderly in this country than any bunch of economists or right wing think tanks Please support this position. You will hopefully grow old enough to qualify for a free TV Licence.
Why is this important?
Age Concern say the report considers purely economic terms and in doing so it omits a number of important issues from the perspective of older people.
There are two million people aged over 75. One in two of are disabled and one in four consider television as their main form of companionship.
For many others, including the chronically lonely , the TV is an essential window on to the world. Moreover, there is a significant number of older people living on very low incomes who struggle to pay a licence fee at the moment.
