Looking for clues

Media historians will find the latest report from the Culture Select Committee a useful bundle of documents about the Great 2015 Licence Fee Stitch Up. Committee chair Damian Collins tries his best to find out who's to blame for the Over 75s mess, but misses a couple of key interviews even Dixon of Dock Green would have conducted.

BBC DG Lord Hall says the decision to accept the 'policy' of free licences for the elderly (but with un-minuted agreement that the 'policy' might not continue forever) was taken between the BBC Trust and the Government. And notes that the minutes of his meeting with the BBC Trust on 6 July 2015 were 'inadequate' (you don't say, Tony - my criticism of all published BBC minutes). Damian Collins' reading of the documents from 2015 says the BBC side 'requested the responsibility' of covering the free licences (an odd take).

Mr Collins has failed to interview two key actors - BBC Trust chair at the time, Rona Fairhead, and the then Chancellor, George Osborne. They're both Tories, like Mr Collins.

Two other Tories have been more frank about what happened.  Ed Vaizey has noted "I was in the DCMS when this policy was imposed on the BBC by the Treasury to meet its £12bn welfare target, a target which I doubt we have met and has long been forgotten."

And former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said that when the decision was taken to transfer responsibility for free TV licences to the BBC "it was understood that this [cutting or narrowing the concession] would be a possible outcome".