Old-Age Pensioners (Television Licence) (Hansard, 3 November 1969)

§ 47. Mr. George Jeger
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what allowance is made by his local officials to old-age pensioners living alone to assist in the payment of the television licence.

§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security (Mr. Brian O'Malley)
As was explained to my hon. 637 Friend the Member for Cleveland (Mr. Tinn) on 3rd March, the cost of television licences is included in the index to retail prices, which is taken into account in determining supplementary benefit scale rates. As my hon. Friend will know, these scale rates are being increased this week.—[Vol. 779, c. 14-15.]

§ Mr. Jeger
Will my hon. Friend consider the fact that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications told me on 16th October that in making supplementary payments the actual cost of a television licence for pensioners living alone is taken into account? That is completely different from the reply that my hon. Friend has just given me. Will he re-establish communications with the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, which appear to have broken down?

§ Mr. O'Malley
With respect, if my hon. Friend will look again at my reply he will see that there is no inconsistency between what I have said and what my right hon. Friend said. I would remind him that the real value of the new scale rates is about 24 per cent. higher than the rates in force in October, 1964.

§ Mr. Tinn
Does not my hon. Friend recognise that in the public mind and in the mind of the pensioner who has not been fortunate enough to obtain a certain category of local authority accommodation for pensioners there is very bitter feeling about the fact that those who have such accommodation have gained a privilege which that individual is not conscious of receiving himself? Cannot my hon. Friend, in consultation with the Post Office, do something to remedy this anomaly?

§ Mr. O'Malley
The concession to which my hon. Friend refers is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. However, I must remind my hon. Friend once again. The rates of supplementary benefit have risen considerably to cover precisely this kind of item since this Government took over.

§ Mr. Pardoe
Could we be told whether the amount which is taken into account in regard to television licences on the supplementary benefit scale is the one shilling which is paid by old-age 638 pensioners who live in local authority homes as opposed to the full rate paid by old-age pensioners in private homes? Will the hon. Gentleman hold discussions with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs to iron out those anomalies?

§ Mr. O'Malley
The hon. Member must bear in mind that the rise in supplementary benefits in recent years has taken us far beyond the position of providing merely subsistence income. It is not possible to break down the payments into component parts, since people's spending habits vary widely.