Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the withdrawal of free TV licences for over-75s on the (a) well-being and (b) isolation of elderly people.

The future of the over 75 licence fee concession is a matter for the BBC. Parliament transferred responsibility in passing the Digital Economy Act in 2017. On the specific issues of the well-being and isolation of the elderly, My Department work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Government is taking steps to address loneliness. These include appointing a minister to lead work on tackling loneliness; publishing the world’s first government strategy on loneliness; and securing £20 million of new grant-funding for projects run by charities and community groups to bring people together.