Age Scotland has urged the Scottish Conservatives to fight for the retention of free TV Licenses for pensioners
Tory MPs are being pressed on their commitment to maintaining support for the elderly.
Age Scotland has written to all 13 Scottish Conservative Members of Parliament urging them to honour their 2017 manifesto commitment to maintain pensioner benefits, including TV licences, for the duration of the current parliament.
Brian Sloan, the charity’s chief executive, thanked the party and its leader Ruth Davidson for public support of the campaign, but said more needs to be done to ensure lonely, vulnerable older people do not lose this vital benefit.
He urged Scottish MPs to lobby the UK government to take back control of the entitlement and get assurances from whoever they support for prime minister to commit to paying for TV licences for everyone aged over 75.
From 2020, the BBC will only provide a free TV licence to over-75s if they receive Pension Credit. This means 300,000 will lose their eligibility and be forced to pay £154.50 from next year, give up their television, or face a £1,000 fine.
Four in ten older people who are eligible do not receive Pension Credit, meaning more than 50,000 of the poorest over 75s in Scotland will lose their free licence.
Almost 600,000 people have signed a petition by Age Scotland’s sister charity, Age UK, in support of keeping the TV licence free to all over 75s.
With nearly half of all over-75s in Scotland saying that their main form of company is their TV or a pet, the loss of a free TV licence could be a devastating blow for those unable to afford the extra bill.
Mr Sloan said: “As 12 of the 13 MPs were elected for the first time on this manifesto, it will no doubt be important to them to ensure that this promise is kept. We are urging them to seek an assurance from whoever becomes the next Prime Minister to reinstate the free licence for everyone aged over 75.
“This is not something the BBC should ever have had to make a decision about. Benefits and entitlements must be the exclusive remit of government, local and national, not a broadcaster.
“With an ageing population and alarming levels of loneliness among older people, they urgently need to take back control of this much-needed benefit. For nearly a quarter of a million older people in Scotland, their main form of company is their TV. It’s not just entertainment but their window to the world.
"We must not stand by and allow it to be taken away.”
