27 October 2008

Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP

Minister of State for Pensions and the Ageing Society

Better Government for Older People

'Beyond the Tick Box’ Conference

Monday 27 October

[Check against delivery]

Good afternoon. I am delighted to be here today.

This is one of my first major speaking events and my first visit to Blackpool as the Minister for Pensions and the Ageing Society. So I was very pleased when I saw that the aim of ‘Beyond the tick box’ is to demonstrate how older people can participate in the decision making that affects their lives now and in the future.

This is a fundamental issue. It underpins so much of the work that I want to do in this role. We have to lay the framework which will allow older people to feel engaged, empowered and satisfied with later life. Both now and into the future as our ageing population grows.

Better Government for Older People, celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. You have come a long way, paving the ground for over 200 Older Peoples Advisory Groups around the country and interaction with Local Authorities. An achievement described by John Elbourne as ‘ground breaking and instrumental in spreading best practice, in particular with setting up Older Peoples Advisory Groups.’  No mean feat.

Which brings me straight to the elephant in the room. As many of you will be aware, my predecessor, Mike O’Brien, announced on 22 May that John Elbourne, former Chief Executive of the Prudential Assurance UK, would carry out a review of engagement of older people with government including BGOP. The findings of the review will be announced in November. I understand that, naturally this has caused much discussion on what John’s findings, and recommendations will be, and the effect that they will have.

I want to assure you that as the new Minister for Pensions and the Ageing Society, and as, I hope, an older person for I hope, many years to come, I know how important it is that we get this right. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to form a view on this. So I welcome all of your thoughts and ideas on the findings of this review. I assure you that these will be carefully considered in the decisions taken in the way forward.

So let’s now focus on the wider picture. How are we going to make engagement for older people a reality?  How are we going to make it accessible?  And inclusive?

Our first stab at planning for the significant challenge of catering for ageing, back in 2005, is set out in a document ‘Opportunity Age: Meeting the Challenges of ageing in the 21st century.’

In 2007, building on the work of Opportunity Age, we made a public commitment through what I am afraid is called a Public Service Agreement- which is really a good Government commitment. It is to ‘tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life.’  This was our first commitment of its’ kind specifically aimed at older people.

All this was developed in consultation with older people and from it, five key aspects emerged. In no particular order, they are contributing to society, tackling pensioner poverty, ensuring good levels of health, engagement with community and maintaining older peoples’ independence.

To see these delivered, it is essential to engage older people at a local level.

In order to keep up momentum, we are revisiting the work laid out in the public commitment and Opportunity Age and plan to publish a refreshed strategy for ageing in spring 2009. This strategy recognises the power of our older people. It recognises the valuable role you continue to play in our society. We will provide opportunities to engage across the community. The choice to work. And we will lay plans to cater to the aspirations of increased numbers of future older people.

We want to work closely with older people to develop this and I am arranging a series of meetings and events over the next few months. We will look at four key themes: age inclusiveness, better preparation for later life, greater participation in later life, and better protection from the risks to wellbeing in old age.

Our society is changing. Already there are more pensioners than children in the UK. 1 in 4 children born today are predicted to live to be over a hundred. And by 2050, over half of our population will be over 50. This is a fabulous achievement of the 21st century- longer, healthier and more active living.

We are working with other Government departments such as health, communities and local government. As a former health and transport Minister, I can easily see the value in a collective approach to ageing. Free bus passes and mental capacity legislation that I led on in office, have provided older people with some measure of opportunity and increased choice in retirement.

My priority is to improve older peoples’ quality of life. By ensuring that all the great ideas that we develop together, are filtered from Government departments to a local level. In the form of practical, easily accessible services.

Our Link Age Plus programme, which some of you may be familiar with, has sought to put older people at the heart of public service. It provides a range of services through just one access point. This was a two year programme, with 8 pilots around the country. Their task was to test how successful we could be at bringing together older peoples’ services. An example from the pilots is Mr and Mrs Smith, (very original, though I don’t believe this is their real name).

Mrs Smith had an accident, but after a visit from Nottinghamshire’s Fire and Rescue Service, Mr and Mrs Smith were referred to a number of agencies through the First Contact Signposting Scheme. As a result, they received:

• Pension Credit of £10.32 a week.
• New locks to their external doors from the police
• Smoke alarms with 10 year batteries and single plug sockets from the Fire Service
• Adaptations to their home including a bath rail, toilet seat, walking frame, wheelchair and grab rails from Social Services
• A falls assessment, which resulted in Mrs Smith attending hospital, twice a week for medical assistance. She is now awaiting surgery.
• And the offer of a home carer, which the Smith’s declined for the time being.

Mr Smith has said that he now feels more confident. In what was previously an uncertain future.

There are more examples like this. In Tower Hamlets and rural Gloucestershire. Link Age Plus has been so successful that when funding stopped, the pilot projects remained embedded in the local areas. Which I feel is a true sign of success. Because this was recognition of the service being of real benefit both to the organisations and the people.

This is just some of the work happening on the ground. Great work. But I believe we must also address public perceptions of older people. We must update attitudes. Because as we well know, what it means to be an older person has changed dramatically.

National Older Peoples’ Day, on 1 October plays a great part in ageing by helping to shape attitudes. This year’s theme of intergenerational relations is particularly relevant to enabling older people to feel engaged and comfortable in the community. Over 900 events, tea parties, education days and even belly dancing- so I’m told- were organised and no doubt attended by some of you here.

Next year, I want Older Peoples’ Day to be bigger and better. A day much like Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day. A recognition of the contribution older people are making to our society.

My own engagement with older people, is fundamental to achieving success in this role. I want to hear what it is that works and doesn’t work for you, what has been priceless, and also what has been frankly not so good. We need to hear all of your experiences and aspirations to shape this debate.

Thank you for welcoming me to speak today. I am sorry that I cannot stay longer and spend more time visiting the displays, which was something I enjoyed at Derbyshire Older Peoples Advisory Group a couple of weeks ago. But what I really want to leave you with is a thank you for all the work you have done. For the contributions that you have made and will, I hope, continue to make to the debate on ageing.