Chief Minister John Le Fondré has lodged a proposition which says that the move could save the public purse £300,000 per year, with a target date of 1 June for the new regime to take effect.
At present, many Jersey residents aged 75 or above do not have to pay their licence fee under a local scheme run by the Social Security Department on a means-tested basis.
In 2015 an agreement was reached between the UK government and BBC so that the broadcaster would take responsibility for funding free licences for the elderly in the UK.
Senator Le Fondré’s proposals would extend the necessary statute from the UK, namely section 89 of the Digital Economy Act 2017, to allow this to happen in Jersey also.
‘By extending section 89, the BBC will have the power to offer concessions with respect to persons living in Jersey,’ the report accompanying the proposition says.
‘Without the extension of section 89, the BBC will have no legal basis for doing so.
‘Despite extending section 89, Jersey will retain the power to introduce any further benefit schemes around TV licences if it so wished, at the cost of local government.’
The report says that the other Crown Dependencies – Guernsey and the Isle of Man – are planning to pass similar legislation at the same time.
And it adds that the future of the means-tested TV licences will be determined by the BBC and a consultation was being planned on the matter relating to the Crown Dependencies.
‘It has been indicated that the likely outcome will be for the BBC to recognise Jersey’s current means-tested scheme as comparable to its own policy position,’ the report says.
