The BBC Board has announced its decision to fund TV licences for the poorest older pensioners in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man from 1 January 2021. The new schemes will bring parity with licence fee payers in the UK and is the fairest decision for all licence fee payers.
The Board’s decision follows a public consultation in the islands and recognises that, while each island has its own system of government and circumstances, by convention residents are treated with parity to those in the UK. Consistent with the UK decision, the BBC will not be making assessments about an individual’s ability to pay as the new schemes will use the islands’ existing welfare criteria to determine eligibility.
When making their decision, the BBC Board applied the same criteria as when making the decision for the UK based on fairness, financial impact and feasibility. The BBC Board considered fairness to all licence fee payers, including over 75s, in the Crown Dependencies and in the UK.
The BBC Board has decided that the BBC will fund the following concessions:
- In Guernsey and Alderney the BBC will pay for free TV licences for those residents who are over 75 and qualify for Income Support
- In Sark the BBC will pay for free TV licences for those residents who are over 75 and are in receipt of financial assistance from the Procureur of Sark.
- In Jersey, the BBC will pay for free TV licences for those residents who are over 75 and are assessed as eligible for a free TV licence under the means-tested TV licence benefit scheme introduced by the Jersey Government in 2006
- In the Isle of Man, the BBC will pay for free TV licences for those residents who are over 75 and qualify for Income Support
The decision follows the request of the Governments of Guernsey, Sark, Jersey and the Isle of Man, for the UK government to extend the BBC’s power to determine a concession for older people in each Crown Dependency.
The BBC Board’s decision document can be found below, alongside a summary of the feedback we received to the consultation.
BBC decision
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Decision document 26 October 2020
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Guernsey Determination 26 November 2020
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Isle of Man 26 November 2020
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Jersey 26 November 2020
Summary of responses
Stakeholder responses
Responses from organisations to the consultation, where permission has been given to publish:
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Bailiwick of Jersey
The Isle of Man