A SCOTTISH peer is making new moves through the House of Lords aimed at saving free TV licences for over-75s.

Age Scotland say their chairman and Labour peer, George Foulkes, is introducing a Private Members Bill  on Thursday aimed at repealing the provision which transferred responsibility for free TV Licences to the BBC.

Funding the free licences, which have been available to all over-75s for nearly two decades, was due to be transferred from the Government to the BBC next year as part of an agreement hammered out in 2015.

It was widely acknowledged that this transfer for responsibility, led to the controversial decision to scrap free TV licences for people over the age of 75.

READ MORE: BBC faces backlash as over 240,000 sign petitions opposing axing of free TV licences to over-75s

More than 3.7 million pensioners are expected to lose out on their licences, and Theresa May has previously said she was ‘disappointed’ with the announcement.

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The public have been voicing their anger, and nearly 570,000 have so far signed the petition, hosted on the Age UK website, entitled Switched Off: Save free TV for older people.

A separate petition to Parliament has been signed by over 170,000. At 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The new bid by Lord Foulkes if successful would mean that the UK Government takes over responsibility for paying for and providing the free TV Licence for people over the age of 75, as outlined in the Conservative Party’s 2017 election manifesto.

Lord Foulkes said: “TV is vital for older people living alone and 3.7 million, including many struggling to survive on the basic pension, now face the loss the of their free TV licence.

“This is a social welfare issue and one that the Conservatives promised in their manifesto to protect for the lifetime of this Parliament. That responsibility cannot be passed from the Government to the BBC.

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“My Bill will transfer the responsibility back to the Government thereby enabling them to keep their election promise to maintain these free TV Licences.”

The new BBC plan to only provide a free TV licence to over 75s if they are in receipt of the Pension Credit benefit misses the 40% of older people who, although eligible, do not receive it, says Age Scotland.

READ MORE: TV licence fees for over-75s will be means-tested

This could mean that more than 50,000 of the poorest over 75s in Scotland will miss out on a free licence from next year.

The cost of a TV Licence is now £154.50. And Age Scotland says this means that large numbers of older people already struggling to make ends meet would have to find an extra £3 per week from their basic pension.

In a joint statement, the BBC's chairman, Sir David Clementi, and director general Tony Hall said continuing the Government's scheme would have had a "severe impact" on services and that the new model "represents the fairest possible outcome".

The new bill is seeking to amend the Digital Economy Act 2017 to transfer the responsibility for TV licence fee concessions in relation to age back to government.

 

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