The BBC has said that “around 1.5 million households could get free TV licences if someone is over 75 and receives Pension Credit”
According to the BBC, most people in the UK over the age of 75 will be required to start paying for their TV licence from the 1st of August.
Chairman Sir David Clementi said the decision to start the new scheme next month “has not been easy”.
He added the corporation “could not continue delaying the scheme without impacting on programmes and services”.
“Around 1.5 million households could get free TV licences if someone is over 75 and receives Pension Credit, and 450,000 of them have already applied”, Sir David said in a statement.
“And critically it is not the BBC making that judgement about poverty. It is the government who sets and controls that measure.”
The BBC has previously postponed the cutting of the free TV licensing for those over the age of 75 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Lord Tony Hall, the outgoing director-general, saying that it was not right to introduce the cuts in “the middle of a crisis”.
The British public service broadcaster has been urged by many charities to “sit down” with the government in order to “agree a way forward”, with Age UK saying that over 75s relied on television as their primary source for news and information regarding the coronavirus amid the nationwide lockdown.
This comes after the chief executive of Hillingdon hospital in West London, which has now closed its A&E unit following an outbreak of COVID-19, has blamed its staff for not wearing masks at work.
The move to cut the free TV licences has brought on much criticism, with celebrities such as Dame Helen Mirren referring to the move as “heartbreaking”.
The free TV licences for pensioners were first introduced back in 2000, with the BBC agreeing to take on the responsibility of funding the scheme as part of a charter agreement that was set out with the government in 2015.
Julian Knight, the chairman for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has said that the broadcaster’s decision will be a “body blow to millions of British pensioners”.
He said: “I had hoped that the previous delay announced would lead to the government and BBC coming together in order to thrash out a fresh deal. However, that has clearly not happened.
“This mess is a result of a poor decision struck by the outgoing Director-General, and now Britain’s pensioners are having to pick up the cost.
“The BBC wants people to be reassured that they can use an online ‘COVID-safe’ payment system to buy their licence.
“This takes little account of those over-75 not online, many of whom have only just been allowed to leave their homes and who might still be afraid to do so.”
This comes after the UK department store chain John Lewis has said that eight of its shops will not reopen from lockdown putting 1,300 jobs at risk.
Jo Stevens, Labour’s shadow culture secretary said: “The refusal of the government to fund this vital service after promising to do so is nothing short of betrayal.
“Many over-75s have spent months at home with TV providing an invaluable source of company during the pandemic.
“For the government to blame the BBC who are having to contend with huge cuts is simply passing the buck.”
