Press Release

Licence to view

07/05/2004
Ref: pr 0047

Residents of Chelmer Housing Partnerships' retirement schemes will have their TV licence fee paid for them by CHP.

Resident's aged between 60 and 75 will benefit from the scheme, making a saving of £5 each per year; a total cost of £1600 paid by CHP.

"The idea was borne out of a best value* review of our Corporate Administration," said Jim Farrow, Quality Manager. "The working group noticed that collection of money for concessionary TV licences was causing a few problems for both residents and staff."

"The process involved a member of staff going round to each of our twenty-six schemes to collect money from all the residents. This was very time consuming and not always convenient for residents. We had to find a way to keep our residents happy and reduce the amount of time and effort it took, so we decided to pay for the licence fee ourselves."

John Campbell is among those benefiting from the free TV licence: "We really appreciate everything that CHP has done to help us pensioners. Every saving helps and we're really grateful to CHP...thank you."

ENDS

Editors notes:

• *Best Value reviews not only look at economical value but also look at ways to make continuous improvements across all our services for customers and stakeholders.
• Residents have to be aged 60 or over to qualify for one of CHP's Retirement Schemes and at 75, TV licenses are free.
• For more information, contact Lynn Hawkins on 01245 613152, or Jim Farrow on 01245 613106.