THE MP for Leeds North West has written to every one of his older constituents about Pension Credit.

Labour’s Alex Sobel took the step in a bid to increase the take-up of the benefit - which guarantees the free TV licence and other support for over 75s - in the area.

Nearly £3 million of Pension Credits are currently not reaching older people in Leeds North West (which includes the Adel and Wharfedale and Otley and Yeadon wards) each year.

Mr Sobel, while raising the subject recently in Westminster Hall, said: “When it was announced that over-75s would get their TV licence free only if they are on Pension Credit, I wrote to all the over-75s in my constituency.

“One constituent said that he not only received his pension credit but now also gets ‘council tax credit, help with glasses and dental, and a premium on carer’s allowance’. He was forced into poverty because of a lack of information that only I, as his representative, could correct. Is that not something that the Government should do?”

The Government handed responsibility for providing free TV licences to the over-75s to the BBC in 2015, and the corporation recently announced that the benefit would be withdrawn - except for those on Pension Credit - in 2020.

Mr Sobel has been an outspoken critic of the change. He said: “The Government have broken their election promise to protect these licences from cuts, but more concerning still is the unspoken promise that we as a society make to older people.”