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Mr. Skinner
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will meet pensioners' representatives to discuss free television licences for all pensioners; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor
Such a meeting would serve no strong purpose. Our policy is clear and well known to the hon.
| Establishment | Number of transfer requests | Numbers transferred1 | Earliest outstanding request | ||||
| 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | ||
| Holloway | 24 | 45 | 12 | 42 | 13 | 11 | 13 July 1987 |
| Pentonville | 47 | 40 | 10 | 25 | 15 | 6 | 16 February 1987 |
| Wormwood Scrubs | 62 | 77 | 16 | 47 | 49 | 9 | 24 April 1987 |
| Brixton | 58 | 103 | 37 | 80 | 35 | 10 | 4 September 1987 |
| Feltham | 13 | 70 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 29 September 1988 |
| Wandsworth | 52 | 91 | 25 | 57 | 27 | 5 | 1 April 1987 |
| Latchmere House | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 10 May 1988 |
| 1 Includes officers requesting transfer during previous years. | |||||||
Member. The licence fee is not a proper instrument of social policy, and we have no plans to change the present concessionary arrangements. Giving free licences to all pensioners would cost £435 million a year, and would necessitate increasing the cost of the licence to everyone else to well over £100.