§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the cost of proposals to abolish the payment of television licence fees by old age pensioners; and if he will make a statement. [67928]
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§ Janet Anderson[holding answer 28 January 1999]: The estimated cost of providing free television licences for all pensioner only households would be £489 million a year. There are no plans at present for such a concession. The current review of the future of the BBC licence fee after 2002 will include a consideration of the current structure of the concessionary licence scheme and whether a suitable alternative structure could be available.