“Quiet revolution” in older peoples’ services
Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks has launched what he considers a “quiet revolution” in the provision of services for older people.
The new strategy, drawn up with the Local Government Association (LGA), aims to join up local services and simplify the way in which people are able to access services.
The publication of the strategy follows a range of successful pilots that were carried out across the South West and in London.
Mr Wicks today said that the Government and its partners had “good ideas” on how best to improve the way older people accessed public services.
However, he acknowledged that the challenge of “putting principle into practice” remained, as he unveiled the new strategy during a press conference.
Mr Wicks observed that current provision of services for older people consisted of the “sophisticated” local welfare state, but he conceded that “the bad news” was that the system was complex and “we do not make it easy to negotiate”.
He said: “Increasingly a theme, in this, the early part of the 21st century is how we restructure . rebuild the local welfare state [to meet the] needs of individuals, families and communities.”
Schemes such as Sure Start and the New Deal for Communities were “examples of a move in that direction” the task now is to see “how we can move more rapidly” he said.
The Minster highlighted initiatives that form part of the strategy notably the Pension Service. The Pension Service is a new organisation, which provides an integrated benefit service for older people. It deals with the range of entitlements they have, provides a telephone service through which claim forms can be completed on the individual’s behalf, and face-to-face contact where required, including home visits.
Mr Wicks also highlighted the benefits of Joint Visiting Teams. These are teams made up of Pension Service local staff and local authority financial assessment and benefits visiting staff that operate as a single team. One member of the team makes a visit to an individual and “is there to represent as much of the welfare state as possible”.
The Minster also reported that teams increasingly included Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit visiting staff.
Mr Wicks stressed that the Government and its partners were “at the beginning of focussing on this”, but he revealed that the DWP had reached agreements with 136 local authorities to set up Joint Visiting Teams.
Mr Wicks also acknowledged that older people were often anxious about posting precious documents through the post when required for verification purposes. As such, he said that efforts were being made to allow people to have their identity verified for the purpose of accessing services “at a local level”.
Deputy chair of the LGA, Chris Clarke said:”Councils are best placed to lead joint working and co-ordinated service provision in their local community. They also play a key role in enabling older people to get involved in designing services and encouraging them to become active citizens for their own benefit and that of the community as a whole.”
The announcement was warmly welcomed by Help the Aged. Policy officer Kate Jopling said: “Help the Aged wants to see a real commitment from the Government to driving LinkAge forward and making it a success – making sure that the money and the people are in place to provide older people with the quality service they deserve .
“This must be more than simply a crisis service. Information, support and help in a crisis are obviously vital, but if we are really aspiring to make better use of the contributions that older people can make to the economy and society, there needs to be a real emphasis on promoting well-being and independence.”
