§ Mr. SillarsTo ask the Prime Minister what correspondence she has received from Key housing association about concessionary television licences; what were its terms; and what action she proposes.
§ The Prime MinisterKey housing association wrote to me on 20 March asking that its accommodation should attract the £5 concessionary television licence available to occupants of certain residential homes and comparable accommodation.
I welcome Key housing's policy of providing mixed housing developments designed to integrate mentally handicapped people into the community. But I am advised that such accommodation cannot qualify for the concessionary television licence. The regulations approved by Parliament in 1988 were explicitly intended to restore the original intention of the concessionary scheme, which was to cater for self-contained units of accommodation rather than those which are mixed in with other housing.