Author Archives: ageukpublicaffairs

Government announces care costs cap

Posted on February 11, 2013 | 7 Comments

This blog was contributed by Caroline Abrahams, Director of External Affairs, for Age UK.

Last year’s White Paper and draft Bill make these encouraging times for social care, for decades a Cinderella service. What has been so obviously lacking though is the funding for a better system, so today’s announcement about the implementation of ‘Dilnot’ is a welcome step forward.

Unfortunately, implementation has to wait until April 2017, so very few older people living in a care home now will benefit, but at least some of those who come after them will: the Government estimates that 1 in 6 older people who need care will gain, but by just how much and over what timescale is hard to tell without detailed modelling which the Government has not (yet) released.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Campaigning, care homes, Home and Care, Social care

Tagged #carecantwait, #careincrisis, #Dilnot, #socialcare, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing society, Care, care costs, care costs cap, care homes, Care in Crisis, Care in Crisis campaign, Caroline Abrahams, Caroline Abrahams Age UK, Dilnot Commission, Dilnot report, Home and Care, older people, social care, Social Care Bill, social care reform

Guest blog – Dan Jarvis MP

Posted on January 8, 2013 | 3 Comments

This guest blog was contributed by Dan Jarvis MP.

Dan Jarvis MP

During the winter of 2011/12, 24,000 people died as a result of plummeting temperatures and soaring heating bills. These deaths did not come without warning. Similar numbers have died every winter for decades. As winter draws upon us again, it is unacceptable that many people face an uncertain and dangerous future, simply because they cannot afford to keep themselves warm.

19,500 winter deaths, of the total of 24,000, happened amongst those aged over 75. These men and women worked hard contributing to our society on the understanding that they will be cared for if the need arises, and they deserve far better treatment in these cold months.

Care for the elderly is an important yardstick by which societies should be measured. It is unacceptable that in modern Britain, which despite economic recession is still a relatively prosperous nation, vulnerable people are at risk simply because they cannot afford to heat their homes properly.

As well as a moral tragedy, fuel poverty is an economic scandal. The former Chief Medical Officer, estimated that cold homes cost the NHS £850 million every year. An end to the unacceptable levels of cold winter deaths would not only save lives during the winter months, but the savings made would help to save countless more lives. Continue reading →

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Posted in Income, Money Matters, Spread the Warmth campaign

Tagged #spreadthewarmth, @DanJarvisMP, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing society, Dan Jarvis MP, energy, energy efficiency, excess winter deaths, fuel poverty, older people, spread the warmth, Spread the Warmth campaign, winter, winter deaths

EY2012 – a happy and glorious year for older Europeans?

Posted on December 23, 2012 | 1 Comment

This blog was contributed by Nicola Robinson, Age UK’s European Political Adviser.

2012 wasn’t just the year of the London Olympics, and the Queen’s Jubilee, it was also the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012).

Like London 2012 – recognised as happy and glorious, EY2012 leaves us with much to celebrate.

The Opening Ceremony took place in Copenhagen – a pretty good place to grow old, with impressive participation rates in employment, volunteering and all sorts of fun.

Commissioner Andor fired the starting pistol and Eurocrats were off to a flyer, producing a bumper crop of pan-European reports, including a Statistical Portrait, 2012 Ageing Report, and Eurobarometer Survey.

There are now 182m Europeans aged 50+, living longer, more active lives than ever before.

To celebrate, Age UK hosted a World Café, organized by older people, inviting 100 Europeans aged 50+ to help change perceptions of ageing. We also celebrated the huge contribution of older people at our Volunteering Awards, supported by the European Commission and Parliament. And we celebrated physical activity in later life, through our Fit as a Fiddle programme, which won EU and WHO plaudits. Continue reading →

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Posted in Communities and inclusion, Consumers, Europe, Health, Income, Money Matters, Research, Work and Learning

Tagged #EY2012, active ageing, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing society, consumers, Employment, European Year of Active Ageing, European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity Between Generations, Fit as a Fiddle, Health & wellbeing, Health and Social Care, Incomes, intergenerational, money matters, pensions, volunteering, work and learning

No news is not always good news

Posted on December 5, 2012 | 2 Comments

The Chancellor delivered his third Autumn Statement today. He tried to strike a tone of cautious optimism over recent economic data suggesting the end of the recession and rising employment. Underneath this, however, there were more cuts as Government struggles to eliminate the structural deficit as it has prioritised.

Yet again the biggest omission from the Chancellor’s statement was any plan to help resolve the crisis in social care. We welcome the continued protection for the NHS budget but unless funding for social care is urgently addressed then the knock on costs to the NHS will continue to grow. The announcement of a further two per cent cut to council budgets in two years’ time is likely to exacerbate this if it leads to further reductions to frontline care and support services that are often already stripped to the bone.

Allowing the social care system to limp along, leaving too many older people isolated and afraid of what tomorrow might bring, is not only morally questionable but makes no financial sense. Reform of care funding would be a worthy legacy for any Government, it remains a scandal that 18 months after Andrew Dilnot published his report, it remains unresolved. Continue reading →

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Posted in Autumn Statement, Economy, Health, Income, Money Matters, Social care

Tagged #AS2012, #autumnstatement, #carecantwait, #careincrisis, Age UK, Age UK blog, Ageing, ageing society, Autumn Statement, Care in Crisis, Care in Crisis campaign, Chancellor, economy, George Osborne, Health, HM Treasury, Income, Incomes, money, money matters, NHS, older people, pensioner poverty, pensions, poverty, saving, social care, social care reform, Spending Review, Treasury, triple-lock

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Guest blog – Dan Jarvis MP

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