§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give any instructions that his Department has issued to the national television licence records office concerning the handling of concessionary television licence applications;
(2) what are the criteria under the national television licensing records office's concessionary television licence scheme for pensioners to qualify for concessionary licences.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe national TV licence records office issues the special accommodation for residential care television licence in respect of residential care accommodation for retirement pensioners, physically disabled people and mentally disordered people in accordance with the conditions of eligibility laid down in the Wireless Telegraphy (Broadcast Licence Charges and Exemption) Regulations 1984. The Home Office does not issue formal general instructions, except that in all cases where entitlement is in doubt the records office must seek advice from the Home Office, on whose behalf these and other television licences are issued.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the extension to the concessionary television licence scheme entitlement over the last 15 years.
§ Mr. Giles ShawA concessionary television licence for old people's homes and certain sheltered housing schemes for pensioners has existed since 1969. Under the original rules of eligibility sheltered housing schemes could qualify only if they comprised groups of dwellings provided specially for retired persons of pensionable age under specified housing legislation and some communal accommodation or facility was also provided within the curtilage of the group of dwellings. The rules were modified in April 1978 so that the communal accommodation or facilities no longer had to be within the curtilage of the dwellings. With effect from 1 September 1984 the conditions of eligibility were extended further to rationalise the way the rules applied to old people's sheltered housing provided by housing associations, and to enable physically disabled and mentally disordered persons in residential homes and sheltered housing schemes to qualify for the concession on the same terms as retirement pensioners.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in the United Kingdom are now entitled under the concessionary television licence scheme to claim a concessionary licence; and how many people currently receive licences under the scheme.
§ Mr. Giles ShawWe have no accurate figures for the number of people in the kinds of residential homes and 543W sheltered housing schemes which qualify for the accommodation for residential care licence, but we believe that some 568,000 people benefit from the concession.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the national television licence records office takes to supervise the operation of the concessionary television licence scheme by local authorities; and if he is satisfied that all pensioners are fully aware of any entitlement they might have to a concessionary television licence.
§ Mr. Giles ShawLocal authorities and other applicants for the accommodation for residential care licence must provide full details of the accommodation in respect of which they claim the concessionary licence and confirm when the licence is renewed annually that the circumstances are unchanged. The national TV licence records office recently issued a leaflet to all local authorities explaining the conditions of eligibility, and we have no reason to believe that retired or disabled people in qualifying accommodation are not aware of their entitlement.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the reasons for the proposal by Sheffield city council for a warden service for pensioners in suitably converted houses not entitling the pensioners covered by the scheme for the 5p concessionary licence; and what is the precise definition of a warden used by his Department.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe conditions of eligibility for the accommodation for residential care licence require that accommodation provided specially for retired or disabled people must have some communal accommodation or facility provided in association with it. A warden service can generally be accepted as a communal facility for qualifying purposes, but each application for the concessionary licence must be dealt with on its merits, taking into account all relevant factors. There is therefore no precise definition of what constitutes a warden service for the purposes of the regulations governing entitlement to the concessionary licence, but to be acceptable a warden would be expected to make regular visits to the people under his or her care and to provide appropriate services in response to their needs. The proposals put forward by Sheffield city council did not fulfil these criteria.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many staff are employed at the national television records office to deal with applications for, and inquiries about, the concessionary television licence scheme; and how many applications they dealt with in each of the years from 1979 to 1983;
(2) how many applications for concessionary television licences by pensioners were rejected in each of the years from 1979 to 1983.
§ Mr. Giles ShawOne person is concerned exclusively with accommodation for residential care licences and a further eight deal with the concessionary licence and other television licensing matters. The number of applications dealt with from 1979 to 1983 and the number of applications rejected were as follows:
544W
Dealt with Rejected 1979 1,510 29 1980 1,277 20
Dealt with Rejected 1981 1,180 22 1982 1,109 19 1983 1,578 30
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent consideration the Department has given to the abolition of the television licence charge for all pensioners; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Giles ShawI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short) on 13 November at column204.