Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure people over the age of 75 are supported financially to afford the TV licence fee.

The policy for the TV licence concession for those aged 75 and over is currently the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and will pass to the BBC in June 2020.

We are forecast to spend over £120 billion on benefits for pensioners in 2019-20, this includes over £99 billion of expenditure on the State Pension.

We are committed to the Triple Lock for the remainder of this Parliament, guaranteeing that up to the full amounts of the basic and new State Pensions will rise by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation, or 2.5% and in 2019/20 the increase was 2.6%.

The full rate of the basic State Pension will be worth over £1,600 more in 2019/20 than in 2010 in cash terms - £675 more than if it had been increased only in line with earnings.

Pension Credit and Housing Benefit for pensioners provide support for poorer pensioners. From April 2019, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit has also been increased by earnings. This will be the equivalent of over £1,800 per year higher in cash terms for single people and over £2,700 per year higher in cash terms for couples than it was in 2010.