Pensioners at a retirement village have accused the BBC of “needlessly antagonising” them as an increase in the TV tax takes effect today.
Residents at St Crispin Retirement Village have been embroiled in a dispute with TV Licensing since November over how much they should be paying.
At the heart of the dispute is 83-year-old Stan Fritton, who has been fighting TV Licensing on behalf of his neighbours.
The retirement village previously qualified for a reduced-rate accommodation for residential care (ARC) licence, with residents paying just £7.50 each.
But after converting a storage room into visitor accommodation, they were informed by post they had contravened licensing rules.
Demand letters were subsequently sent to nearly 100 elderly residents in the compound.
“They’re being sent to 95-year-old widows seeing something that says investigation with a big stamp… it’s frightened them to death,” says Fritton.
He claims demand letters have even been sent to residents with dementia.
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The retirement village’s managers have now closed the visitor room and are reapplying for the ARC licence.
However, Fritton insists they never broke any rules in the first place.
He has been unable to get a TV Licensing officer to visit and verify that the room isn’t a permanent dwelling.
“They’re not listening and they’re choosing not to listen,” he said.
“They’re choosing to antagonise residents here needlessly.”
A spokesman for TV Licensing responded with a statement saying they “continue to liaise with the managers of St Crispin’s… and hope to have this matter resolved as soon as possible”.
The issue extends far beyond this retirement village, as the BBC’s funding model faces increasing scrutiny from critics.
From today, the licence fee has risen from £169.50 to £174.50, based on inflation.
Today’s increases come as it was revealed the BBC’s income has fallen by £1billion a year in real terms compared to 2010 funding levels.
Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky recently told parliament the drama’s second series nearly didn’t happen due to “insufficient” funding for high-end productions.
The situation is challenging for all public broadcasters. Patrick Spence, producer of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, told Sky News he wouldn’t pitch such a drama in today’s commissioning climate.
“I think we are in real trouble,” Spence warned.
While some reports suggest the Government may consider a levy on streaming services, the Department for Culture has not confirmed this.
Sir Craig Oliver, former BBC News controller, believes change is inevitable: “I think everybody has come to the conclusion, including privately the BBC, that they have to come up with another model.”
The BBC says it’s launching its “biggest ever public engagement exercise” to help shape its future.