The BBC has today announced that from the beginning of 2021 it will fund free TV licences for those aged over 75 in the Island who are entitled to income support.
The BBC said the decision will bring parity with licence fee payers in the UK and is the fairest decision for all licence fee payers. The BBC has informed Treasury that in making its decision for the Isle of Man, the BBC Board applied the same criteria as that used when making the decision for the UK. The Corporation has based these criteria on three principles:
Fairness - the potential impact on older age groups and the potential impact on all licence fee payers
Financial impact - the cost of any concession to the BBC, and the possible effect this might have on programmes and services
Feasibility - being able to implement any new concession simply and effectively
The BBC’s decision follows a consultation with stakeholders in the Island earlier this year.
Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan MHK said:
‘The Treasury and the Council of Ministers will now determine the position of the over 75s who don’t receive income support. Given that current TV licences for the over 75s only run to 31 December this year, we understand the urgency of the situation and hope to have made a decision by the end of this week.’
