Coalition year one: Older people
For those in later life, how has the coalition fared one year on?
By Michelle Mitchell
Last May the coalition government was formed. Since then, Age UK has worked to ensure that the views and needs of those in later life have been recognised in government plans and policies. To mark the one year anniversary of the Coalition, we look at what the Government has done so far to better the lives of older people and where we think they could do more.
Reform of the NHS, pensions reform, and fuel poverty are some of the big issues that the government has sought to tackle in its first year against a backdrop of economic austerity. Overall the government has taken some positive and welcome steps towards creating a better later life for older people, but there remain issues of concern for older people that the government has yet to address.
So where have the government fared well?
Pensions
This is the biggie for older people and an area in which Age UK has been broadly welcoming of changes. We were delighted that one of the first moves of the coalition government was to introduce the ‘triple guarantee’ promise to uprate the state pension in line with earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher. This is a major step in the journey towards eradicating pensioner poverty but the current system’s Labyrinthine complexities mean that many people only realise what they will have to live on when they actually retire.
So Age UK is enthusiastic about the coalition’s proposals for a flat rate pension which would provide greater clarity about what people can expect from the state when they retire and allow people to plan better for retirement. We are however disappointed that there are currently no plans to include current pensioners and are urging ministers to address this anomaly.
There is one area however in which we think that the government has made a serious miscalculation. The coalition agreement promised that it would not raise the state pension age for women before 2020 – a promise that was broken less than six months later in the comprehensive spending review when both the equalisation of stage pension age for men and women and the rise to 66 were brought forward to 2018.
This means that 2.6 million women and 2.3 million men will have to wait longer to get their state pensions – for the women this is the second time their state pension age has changed.
While Age UK agrees with the equalisation between men and women and also understands the rationale behind raising state pension age, it believes that this change has been sprung upon the affected group with too little notice to plan for a delayed retirement. Broken promises never sit well with the electorate and so we feel that the government has failed to appreciate the anger and bewilderment this proposed move has caused.
Abolishing the default retirement age
In the face of very vocal opposition from certain elements in the business community, the government has held firm in abolishing the default retirement age. This is a great step forward not only in allowing individuals greater choice in being able to work longer rather than being forced to retire when they reach 65 but also should help change society’s perception of older people. Not having a ‘use by’ date allows older people to remain a useful part of the working community for as long as they need or want.
However, it is projected that by 2020 one in three workers in the UK will be aged 50+. Greater support for to older jobseekers and those in employment who may want to change careers later in their working lives must be provided. Negative perceptions of older workers still persist and age discrimination is still common, especially in recruitment.
Proposed health reforms
We welcome the current pause in the health bill’s progress through parliament as we want to ensure that the needs of older people will be better met under any new framework than they are at the moment.
Older people are by far the biggest users of the NHS, yet they often experience a second rate service which does not meet their needs. We are working with the government to try and change that in future.
Social care
Social care reform is long overdue and the system is at crisis point. Cuts in government settlement grants to local authorities for this financial year have increased pressure on an already creaking system. Age UK awaits the outcome of the Dilnott Commission in July and hopes that the government moves swiftly to bring about reforms to improve the quality of care for older people.
Emphasis on public health
This is an area in which the coalition has made positive strides. Local authorities now control the budgets for public health which means that they have more control over what is needed locally. It is a great opportunity for local communities to address the health needs of their constituency.
Take the lead on tackling fuel poverty
The ‘Green Deal’ proposed by the government as part of the energy bill encourages energy efficiency improvements in properties to be paid for by savings to energy bills. Ministers must clarify how vulnerable older people will be able to share in the benefits of the scheme and be supported to do so. This is even more important as the only publicly-funded programme assisting people in fuel poverty, Warm Front, is being shrunk, and will disappear entirely when the Green Deal is introduced.
Uncertainty over the Equalities Act
The Equalities Act provides essential rights for some of the most vulnerable in society. It is disappointing that it continues to be equated with meaningless bureaucracy as part of the government’s red tape challenge, rather than an expression of core values in our society. Older people continue to face discrimination in financial services and the government’s proposal to widen the breadth of exemptions for age discrimination regulations beyond risk-related financial products such as insurance is concerning.
Changes in the indexing of pensions and benefits
The announcement by the coalition to use consumer price index (CPI) than the retail price index (RPI) to measure inflation for pensions and benefits is likely to have a major impact on the levels of benefits and pensions received. We believe the RPI should be maintained as the CPI nearly always shows a lower rate of inflation means that benefits will rise by less each April under government proposals.
Though progress has been made so far, much more can still be done to improve the lives of older people. Age UK will continue to campaign for a better later life for all and ensure that the coalition does more to achieve a better report card rating next year.
Michelle Mitchell is charity director of Age UK
The opinions in politics.co.uk’s Speakers Corner are those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the website or its owners.
