Home Policy NewsCare and Repair AgenciesLinksTraining and EventsRecruitmentContact Us Private Area

Policy Update

This report is designed to provide a brief update on current national policy issues for older people in Wales and an overview of the work of Care & Repair Cymru regarding these issues.

Older Person’s Commissioner Update

 

Ruth Marks the new Commissioner for Older People in Wales officially took up her post on the 21st April 2008. Care & Repair Cymru (CRC) have developed a close relationship with the Commissioner during her time as Director for RNIB Cymru. CRC will work closely with the Commissioner to help shape her work and therefore the future for older people. CRC Chief Executive Wendy Bourton, for example, will shortly be attending the National Partnership Forum for Older People in Wales and the Older Persons Round Table which will further shape the direction of the work, particularly regarding the following policy issues.

 

Fuel Poverty

 

Older people are more likely than any other age group to be affected by fuel poverty. More than one in five (22%) of those over 70 and eligible for pension credit are living in fuel poverty compared with only three in 50 people (6%) in the population as a whole, with the situation expected to worsen due to the recent rise in energy costs. At the same time, older people are also more vulnerable and more susceptible to cold for a variety of reasons.

UK Government response has been to increase the Winter Fuel Payment in the 2008 Budget. More recently in a deal brokered by Energy Secretary John Hutton energy suppliers have agreed an increase in the amount of money they spend on their social programmes. Great Britain's six energy suppliers collective annual spend on social assistance will triple to £150 million by 2011.  Care & Repair Cymru continue their membership of the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group. The group is responsible for taking forward recommendations arising from the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 - A Fuel Poverty Commitment for Wales.  The recommendations are aimed at eradicating fuel poverty. The group reports directly to the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Dr Brian Gibbons. The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group has recently advertised to appoint an independent Chair, to lead the group and take forward its role. Care & Repair Cymru continue to lobby in this way for the needs of vulnerable older people.  CRC is also a member of the HEES Advisory Group. Despite recent funding issues (Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in Wales). Due to high demand for the HEES Wales grant EAGA continue to prioritize the most vulnerable clients, particularly elderly people and work to fulfill applications from Care and Repair agencies across Wales.   As the situation appears to worsen for the most vulnerable, with increasing fuel prices, Care & Repair Cymru propose to research the effects of such issues with their clients over the coming months, prior to the next Keep Well This Winter Campaign. This will allow for CRC to demonstrate concrete evidence and highlight case studies of the vulnerable people Care and Repair work with regarding fuel poverty. This will allow us to adapt the advice given to older people, according to demonstrated need and also to highlight the importance of this issue to key politicians.

 

Older Persons Strategy – Phase Two 2008-2013

 

The second phase of the strategy was launched in March 2008 building upon the work completed in the first phase with the focus being;

• To tackle discrimination against older people and promote positive images of ageing and give older people a stronger voice in society.
• To promote and develop older people’s capacity to work and to learn for as long as they want.
• To promote and improve the health and well-being of older people by ensuring that maximising independence is an integral part of planning and delivering services.
• To continue to work together to implement the second phase of the Strategy across all sectors to bring about innovation and change.

 

Care & Repair Cymru will continue to work with other voluntary agencies which support older people as members of Age Alliance to continue to influence the future for older people throughout this second phase. During the launch event Care & Repair Cymru were not only key delegates, but were also invited as exhibitors, demonstrating the recognition of the role of Care & Repair Cymru and Care and Repair agencies in keeping older people both safe and secure throughout Wales.

 

Keep Well This Winter

 

Keep Well This Winter is the National annual campaign which aims to provide information and support to people aged 65 and over to enable them to keep well during winter. The campaign is run by a partnership of several agencies including Care and Repair Cymru.

 

In 2007/8 CRC launched the Campaign during Care and Repair Week in January at the Senedd with the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas. This event attracted many politicians, professionals and older people. Care and Repair Agencies also held awareness events across Wales to promote the safety of older people with over 1500 people attending such events.

 

The Keep Well This Winter Campaign is however currently under review by the Welsh Assembly Government, who are considering changing the direction of the campaign, by ending the awarding of smaller grants generally awarded for promotional materials and events. The new direction is expected to be toward the promotion and funding of flu injections and energy efficiency measures.

  

Commission on Rural Housing in Wales

 

The Commission (set up by the Jospeph Rowntree Foundation) was asked to take existing and new evidence to establish a series of insights and recommendations for all policy makers and practitioners that enables the issue of housing needs in rural Wales to be taken further forward and that aids the important process of building consensus on the potential solutions to problems identified.

 

A consultation has been carried out by the Commission with a report to be published shortly. Care & Repair Cymru responded to the consultation on behalf of older people, particularly Care and Repair clients living in rural Wales. The issues highlighted were; 

• Poor quality of housing
• Lack of access to information and services
• Housing options – lack of suitable housing options in rural areas, sometimes forcing people to move out of the area where they live in order to ‘meet their needs’
• Affordable warmth

 

Legislative Competence Order for Carers

 

It has recently been agreed by Cabinet (March 2008) to progress toward a Legislative Competence Order for Carers in Wales. The LCO will hand over power to Welsh Government to introduce measures (distinct from those in England) for carers in Wales. The LCO is likely to be introduced in summer 2009.

 

Care & Repair Cymru are currently working in alliance with other agencies which support carers, to influence the measures which will be allowed by the LCO for Carers to ensure a better future for carers in Wales. The Carers’ Alliance has been working with Gwenda Thomas – The Deputy Minister for Social Services. Care & Repair Cymru will consult with Care and Repair Agencies to gather evidence and views regarding future measures.

  

Delayed Transfers of Care

 

The Independent Review of Delayed Transfers of Care in Wales has been completed by the University of Glamorgan with the report imminently expected. The review covered the whole of Wales and involved health and social care communities, independent and voluntary sectors and service users.

 

Care & Repair Cymru’s Rapid Response Adaptations Programme (RRAP) is a Welsh Assembly funded rapid-response service aimed at addressing minor repairs and adaptations in the homes of older and/or disabled homeowners or private sector tenants, in order to facilitate safe discharge from hospital and to prevent admission or re-admission to hospital. The Programme was set up in 2002 as concerns were raised about the numbers of older and vulnerable disabled people who are well enough to return home, but were unable to do so because of an unmet need for repairs and adaptations or adequate heating. The Welsh Assembly Government continues to fund the RRAP programme which has prevented thousands of people being delayed in hospital unnecessarily.

  

Care & Repair Cymru ‘Have Your Say’ Research

 

Care & Repair Cymru launched the ‘Have Your Say’ project in 2007. The project aims to identify the housing and social care issues which older people feel effects their health, independence and dignity as they grow older. The ‘Have Your Say’ project incorporates a visual display which participants use tiddlywinks to choose the issues which concern them most. The research has been a feature at many events across Wales.

 

The research will be completed within a year, due to end during summer 2008 with a report to follow. A snapshot of results during Care and Repair week, with 330 respondents, demonstrate that the biggest concerns for older people were remaining independent and safe within their home with almost 20% of people highlighting these concerns. Fifteen per cent of people were also concerned about warmth and repairs within their home.  The final report will highlight if this pattern of results remains across Wales and will allow CRC to further evidence the actual housing concerns of older people in Wales today.

 

For more information on the above issues please contact Rachel Gingell Policy and Research Officer Rachel.gingell@careandrepair.org.uk or 029 2057 6286