Concessionary Television Licences
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Low of Dalston
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, my noble friend is well known for his interest in these matters. As I said before, providing a free licence to people over 75 was a manifesto commitment. The noble Lord made a number of other points and I am afraid I will have to write to him on those.
Lord Low of Dalston (CB)
My Lords, will there be a compensatory adjustment to the BBC’s licence fee income as part of the charter renewal discussions to take account of this decision to switch the cost of funding free licences for the over-75s from the Government’s account to the BBC’s?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the point the noble Lord makes will be under discussion over the 18 months of the charter renewal. The Government have said that they are committed to a thorough and open process where all aspects of the BBC will be up for discussion. As I said before, the debate with the public and the BBC will continue as planned and an announcement on how the charter review will be run will be made in due course.