Ex-care minister in call for old age commissioner

9 Sep 13
Former care minister Paul Burstow has called for the creation of an older people’s commissioner in England to represent the views of pensioners to government and encourage ministers to do more in preparation for an ageing society

By Richard Johnstone | 10 September 2013

Former care minister Paul Burstow has called for the creation of an older people’s commissioner in England to represent the views of pensioners to government and encourage ministers to do more in preparation for an ageing society.

In a report published today, Burstow said a Whitehall-based commissioner would be able to challenge ageism and help ensure the ‘future-proofing’ of policies to deal with increasing longevity.

The Giving older people a voice report, edited by Burstow and published by the CentreForum think-tank today, said the Care Bill currently before parliament should be used to establish the post. This legislation will be used to introduce a cap on an individual’s adult social care costs, set at £72,000 from 2016.

Burstow, who was care services minister from May 2010 to September 2012, said commissioners in Wales and Northern Ireland had already made a difference to the lives of older people. 

He called on the commissioner to be made responsible for ‘fighting [older people's] corner in policymaking circles… and spearheading the future-proofing of English policy development across government to prepare for the challenges posed by an ageing society’.

Earlier in the year, the House of Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change reported that the country was ’woefully unprepared’ for the growing pensioner population. Creating a commissioner could ‘form part of any serious strategy to age-proof the UK’, Burstow said.

‘Older people need a powerful voice, someone who listens to and acts on their concerns. Too often our ageing population is presented as a looming crisis. Successive governments have overlooked the huge contribution of older people and failed to prepare for the rapid ageing of the population. It is time that changed.’

Sarah Rochira, the older people's commissioner for Wales, writing in the report backed the call, highlighting the positive difference the role had made there. In particular, the report highlighted that advocacy elements of the Welsh role, which include promoting the rights and interests of older people and challenging discrimination, could ‘clearly’ be translated into the English context.

Rochira said her job was to ‘speak out for older people and to make sure that those who run our services, as well as our national and local government, understand and act upon the issues that matter to them’. 

She added: ‘We are a nation of older people, which is to be celebrated. Older people bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as real economic value, to our nation. However, many older people feel they have been marginalised, feel that they don't have a voice that is listened to and that the issues that matter to them are not being dealt with effectively.

‘Getting it right for older people is not just a moral issue; it goes to the heart of public service. When we get it right for older people, we get it right for everybody.’

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top