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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Benefits for older people  →  Thread

Blanket Free TV Licence for over 75’s to be scrapped

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HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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If and when the relevant bits of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 commence, integration of renters’ housing costs into Pension Credit will increase take-up and also complicate the TV licence means test.

Gareth Morgan
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By 2050, the proportion of the UK population aged 65 and over is projected to reach nearly a quarter at 24 per cent, up from 17 per cent in 2012, according to the ONS.

The UK will become the most populous country in the European Union by 2050, according to new estimates. Eurostat’s predicts that the UK’s population will continue to rise, from 65 million in 2015 to 67m in 2020. By 2050 it will have reached more than 77m.

77m x 24% = 18,480,000

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 12 June 2019 09:36 AM

[
The proportion of pensioners in the scope of Pension Credit, for example, will fall gradually from around 40 per cent of pensioners today to around ten per cent by 2050...
Add to that the underclaiming that already exists (4 in 10 households as above) and the proportion of people who will find themselves eligible could be vanishingly small.

Proportion in scope = 1,840,000.  60% take-up = 1,108,800

Vanishingly small?

 

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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Gareth Morgan - 12 June 2019 10:16 AM

By 2050, the proportion of the UK population aged 65 and over is projected to reach nearly a quarter at 24 per cent, up from 17 per cent in 2012, according to the ONS.

The UK will become the most populous country in the European Union by 2050, according to new estimates. Eurostat’s predicts that the UK’s population will continue to rise, from 65 million in 2015 to 67m in 2020. By 2050 it will have reached more than 77m.

77m x 24% = 18,480,000

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 12 June 2019 09:36 AM

[
The proportion of pensioners in the scope of Pension Credit, for example, will fall gradually from around 40 per cent of pensioners today to around ten per cent by 2050...
Add to that the underclaiming that already exists (4 in 10 households as above) and the proportion of people who will find themselves eligible could be vanishingly small.

Proportion in scope = 1,840,000.  60% take-up = 1,108,800

Vanishingly small?

 

6% of pensioners receiving PC (1,108,800 out of 18,480,000), I’d say that’s pretty small overall and also a significant reduction on current caseload (1,810,000) (figures from 2016/17). Then there’s the fact that over-75’s currently constitute ~50% of the caseload so that further reduces these figures.

[ Edited: 12 Jun 2019 at 11:50 am by Paul_Treloar_AgeUK ]
Ros
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The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published a report on BBC TV licences for the over 75s calling for free TV licences to be restored to those who are not in receipt of pension credit, and finding -

‘... potentially far-reaching unintended consequences arising from the licence fee decision with the absurd situation of the BBC being pushed into decisions that individuals make about their uptake of welfare payments. As a result of its policy, the BBC has found itself to be administrator of welfare benefits that should, rightly, only ever be implemented by the government.’

shawn mach
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They’ve pushed back the start date from 1 June to 1 August because of coronavirus:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bbc-and-governments-joint-statement-on-delaying-the-tv-licence-fee-for-over-75s