HC Deb 25 March 1974 vol 871 cc9-10W
38. Mr. Moate

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give consideration to the granting of concessionary television licences to certain categories of retirement pensioners.

Dr. Edmund Marshall

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy with regard to the granting of concessionary television licences to all retirement pensioners who are householders.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

My right hon. Friend considers that it is better to give all retirement pensioners additional cash resources which they can spend as they please, as will be done by the pension increases announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.

Dr. Hampson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many retirement pensioners are currently obtaining concessionary television licences; what is the cost of this; and what he estimates would be the cost of making television licences available to all pensioners at concessionary rates.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

The information is not available in the form requested. On 31st December 1973 there were in force 36,000 television licences issued to blind people at the concessionary rate, but it is not known how many of those people were pensioners or had pensioners living with them. On the same date there were 195,000 people licensed to receive television in old persons' homes at the rate of 5p per person. If all of them had been required to be covered by licences issued at the full rates the licence revenue would have been about £1 million higher. I estimate that making television licences available to all retirement pensioners free or virtually free would reduce licence revenue by about £30 million a year at present.

Dr. Hampson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many petitions requesting cheaper television licences for retirement pensioners his Department has received in the last six months; and how many he has received from within the Ripon constituency.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

Two. Neither of them was from within the Ripon constituency.