§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures he has taken to inform people aged 75 years or over of their eligibility for a free television licence; and if he will make a statement on the handling of queries. [136028]
§ Janet AndersonTV Licensing, on behalf of the BBC, has undertaken a number of activities to inform people aged 75 or over of their eligibility for a free television licence and what they needed to do to apply. Publicity has also been aimed at people who have already applied for their free licence, but who needed some reminders and reassurances about when their licence is due to arrive. The activities include
Specific direct mailings to all households and changes to existing stationery to include application forms for a short term licence or Over 75 television licence.Two BBC television trails targeted specifically at people aged 75 or over have been running on BBC One and BBC Two since May and will continue to run until mid-November.BBC Local Radio trails targeted specifically at people aged 75 or over. These trails ran between June and July and from September to the end of October.Press advertisements in both national and targeted press in September and October with further press advertisements planned for targeted press during November.Information leaflets and signs have been provided to all Post Offices.383WInformation has been provided on a dedicated Ceefax page which will continue to run until mid-November.Liaison with key caring agencies and provision of leaflets highlighting concession details.In addition, the BBC has prepared material for responses to media inquiries around 1 November, answering likely questions, and the media will be fully briefed around that date.
On the handling of inquiries, the BBC has anticipated that applicants are likely to contact TV Licensing with queries about the licences they have been sent, such as the method of calculating the refund, or the validity of the licence for other members of their household. The BBC has tried, as far as possible, to answer these questions in the letter accompanying the licence, but experience shows that many people will still contact TV Licensing with queries. In addition, the BBC says it will be hard to predict the volume of calls from people whose circumstances or their address have changed, and the new applications which might be prompted by the issue of the licence. The BBC, therefore, has in place:
Automated messages on the helplines to answer the most common queries, and to reassure people still waiting for their licenceCall centre capacity to a maximum of 260 operators answering queriesThe ability to take people's telephone numbers and call them back outside peak call times.The BBC believes this capacity provides TV Licensing with the ability to answer up to 500,000 inquiries through the next six weeks.
Responses to the licence mailing are, however, hard to predict, and publicity or press activity could cause peaks of telephone calls that exceed the capacity of the call centres at any given time. The cost of this extra capacity would be £250,000 a week. The BBC has chosen to balance cost versus demand and believes it has set it at a sensible level. The BBC will, however, be reviewing this daily and will reconsider its funding on a day-to-day basis.