“They agreed to work with the BBC on a new campaign to increase the take-up of Pension Credit as well as other benefits. As a result some older people will have given up their TV, a vital lifeline in the pandemic, or paid the fee – which they can ill afford.<\/span><\/p>\n “I have demanded urgent action and a report to Parliament.”<\/span><\/p>\n Latest figures show 38 per cent of eligible households with someone over 75 do not receive the payment.<\/span><\/p>\n We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.<\/p>\n Lord Foulkes wants EastEnders and The Archers to run storylines on the impact of ending free TV licences for the over-75s, as well as features on breakfast news shows.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Around one million over-75s have resisted paying the bill, which was imposed on older pensioners last August for the first time in 20 years.<\/span><\/p>\n TV Licensing has said it will not carry out enforcement action against older pensioners at the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n A spokesman said it had received more than 750,000 free licence applications after writing to all over-75 households with details of how to apply, together with radio campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n A spokesman at the Department for Work and Pensions, which once funded the concession, said: “We encourage anyone who thinks they might be eligible for Pension Credit to visit gov.uk\/pension-credit.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/tv-licence-1393825.jpg?r=1612520801403\")
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