asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many retirement pensioners receive television licence concessions in Portsmouth;(2) how many retirement pensioners are currently receiving television licence concessions in the United Kingdom.

On 31 May 1985, about 600,000 persons in the United Kingdom benefited from the residential care concessionary television licence, of whom about 2,000 were within the Portsmouth postal code area. While the vast majority of these are retirement pensioners, a small proportion will be physically disabled or mentally disordered persons, but it is not possible from available records to identify the respective groups.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received concerning concessions for retirement pensioners' television licences.

About 290 hon. Members and 390 members of the public have written in the past 12 months about the concessionary licence scheme and concessionary licences for pensioners.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government have any plans to extend television licence concessions for retirement pensioners in warden-controlled buildings to two-bedroomed flats.

We have no current plans to do so.