WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY (BLIND PERSONS) BILL (Hansard, 19 July 1955)

§ LORD CHESHAM
My Lords, in view of the cordial reception given by your Lordships to all forms of good cause today, I consider that I am most fortunate that it has fallen to me to move the Second Reading of this Bill. It is only a small Bill involving a change of wording in existing Statutes, but its effect will be quite important and will result in the removal of an anomaly. The Bill, I think, will commend itself to your Lordships from every point of view. For the past thirty years blind persons living in their own homes have not had to pay any fees for their sound wireless receiving licences, but as things are at the moment the full fee has to be paid when a blind person's household has a television set. The aim of the Bill is to enable a reduced fee to be paid in those circumstances, and thus to restore a concession made to all who were entitled to it before there was television.
872 The free sound licence was first given to blind people under an Act of 1926. The substance of its provisions was reenacted in the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1949; but neither that nor the earlier Act enables the Postmaster General to remit the part of the sum which is now payable as a television licence fee. The television licence also covers sound reception, and since the introduction of the combined licence in 1946 a blind person's household cannot obtain the remission of £1 which it would be able to do if there were no television in the house. The obvious desirability of putting this matter right is handicapped at the moment by the lack of statutory power for the Postmaster General to remit a part of the licence fee: he may remit all or he may remit none. While, under the 1949 Act, he is empowered to issue a free combined licence, the representative associations who speak for the blind do not ask for it—indeed, they do not want it. We agree with them that that would not be the right solution.
I do not think your Lordships require any words from me to emphasise the importance of helping the blind community and of doing what is now possible to help them enjoy the sound radio which has been of such great value to them. I should like just to add that, if this Bill is enacted, although the precise, detailed arrangements for the working of the rebate scheme are not completed, it is my right honourable friend's intention to make financial benefit effective just as soon as he has the power to do so, and we earnestly and confidently hope that this will be done before the House rises for the Summer Recess. I beg to move.

§ THE EARL OF LUCAN
My Lords, noble Lords on this side of the House will wish me to extend their congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, on the very confident way in which he has performed his first task from the Government Front Bench. We hope that all future Bills that he may introduce will be as uncontroversial as this one. Nobody would wish to say anything against this small concession, but at the risk of appearing a little ungracious I would point out that this is certainly a very small concession, and that there are a 873 number of other concessions for the blind community which have been put forward and to which we hope the Government will in due course give favourable attention. Subject to that comment, we wholeheartedly welcome and support this Bill.

LORD REA
My Lords, from these Benches I too should like to congratulate the noble Lord on the confident way in which he has handled this Bill. We hope that he will be as lucky in the subject matter of other Bills that come his way. We certainly support this Bill.

§ LORD CHESHAM
My Lords, the kind words which have been said by both noble Lords give me great encouragement and also considerable hope for this small Bill. I should like to make one thing clear: the Bill does not represent any form of scaling down. Although, as the noble Earl, Lord Lucan, said, there may be other matters to be considered, this Bill was drawn up with the greatest of good will and good feeling between the representative associations for the blind and Her Majesty's Government, All we are keen to do now is to get it through just as quickly as those representative associations have requested.