Older people in Sutton, Wesminster Hall debate

I start with what I hope the Minister will regard as a piece of good news. The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Bill, a private Member's Bill currently going through the House, has just concluded its Committee stage and has emerged without a vote and with a clear consensus that we hope will see it make its way on to the statute book. In a previous incarnation as a Back Bencher, the Minister introduced and took through the House private Member's legislation for carers. This issue is close to his heart and it is also relevant to the debate on older people in Sutton, which I have been fortunate in securing today, because many of my constituents who are senior citizens are also carers.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to report to the Chamber and the Minister on a project with older people that I have been undertaking in my constituency. Over the past 18 months, I have been working closely with a range of voluntary and statutory organisations to consult older people and devise a strategy for older people living in Sutton-the aim being to listen to them and devise a strategy reflecting their concerns. I was fortunate in working closely with the Sutton seniors forum and my local branch of Age Concern, whose input has been invaluable. The seniors forum, under the leadership of the chairman, David Dombey, meets every month and regularly attracts more than 200 senior citizens to its meetings, where the issues that are covered reflect the wide range of concerns and interests of older people in the London borough of Sutton.

Sutton borough Age Concern provides a range of services for older people there. One of the most important services that it has established lately is its users and carers group, which I shall mention in a minute-not least because it is made up of older people who have been trained to work with other older people to help them talk and to find out their views on services. That group's work has been valued by Sutton council and the Sutton and Merton primary care trust.

After a round of meetings in late 2002 with council leaders, the PCT, Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust chief executives, the local police borough commander and others, I felt that I had, in principle, a green light to start pulling together the strategy. I established a steering group with members drawn from the Sutton seniors forum, the users and carers group, Age Concern, local churches, the local authority social services department and community engagement teams, the local NHS change agency, and the older people's matron from Epsom and St. Helier, as well as a number of representatives from the PCT.

The group organised a conference that took place last July. More than 300 older people have taken part in the process, thereby contributing their ideas and time. On the day of the conference, 100 older people took part. The day was organised around a series of open questions, the aim being to create a climate in which everyone felt able to take part and contribute their ideas. There was a lot of brainstorming and small group work and people were asked to prioritise the issues that arose. A mass of good ideas came out during the day, including concerns about young people, policing and crime, and the need for a more visible police presence to reassure and deter. Health and access to good-quality chiropody was flagged up, as was the need for more active healthy living initiatives to promote active ageing.

The need to reach out to find and offer support to isolated and lonely people was also raised. That echoes the research published yesterday by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, which highlighted the terrible cost of isolation and loneliness in our community. The WRVS found that every year 12,000 older people in Britain die alone and undiscovered in their homes. That is the equivalent of 32 lonely deaths every day. It also found that 17 per cent. of older people living alone said that they were often always lonely, and one in seven said that they were isolated in their homes and felt cut off from the outside world. Some 20 per cent. of all suicides involve pensioners. That serious point was raised during the conference and warrants local and national attention.

Transport issues were raised, particularly the attitude of some-I emphasise some-bus drivers, a complaint that was echoed by many seasoned bus users during the conference. Their concern was the tendency to be too heavy on the throttle and too hard on the brake, causing many an injury and many upsets as a consequence.

Money matters and pensions issues were aired during the day. Participants felt hard pressed to make ends meet on fixed incomes. The No. 1 concern expressed was the feeling that those who had saved for their retirement were taxed twice-on their investment and the interest. The feeling was that thrift was not rewarded. There was also a sense of frustration that the contribution that older people can and do make goes unrecognised-for example, the role that older people fulfil as carers, often undertaking many hours of care with no entitlement to the carer's allowance. How older people are stereotyped was also raised, and one example given during the conference was the signs that warn us about older people crossing the road and how offensive those signs are. The fact that they depict an older person bent double with a stick is itself derogatory and insulting to many older people.

Perhaps one of the most positive things to come out of a positive day was the discussion about young people. It began with concerns about antisocial behaviour and calls for parents to control their children more. However, as the discussion progressed, the question was asked, "Why are the parents losing control? Who were the parents' parents?" They were the grandparents, who were at the conference. Although they had perfectly good relationships with their grandchildren and thought them wonderful, they did not know the other children or other young people on their streets, of whom they were fearful. As a consequence of that discussion, there was a strong feeling that work was perhaps needed in Sutton and elsewhere to develop a dialogue between young and old people to find common ground.

Shortly after our conference, at an event organised by Sutton council to ascertain local young people's views on a range of issues, it emerged that they experienced the same concerns about the attitudes of bus drivers, particularly the fact that they were too heavy on the accelerator, too hard on the brake and often too hard on them. The conference generated a mass of ideas, some sense of the priorities that should be taken forward and some of the first steps needed to develop them.

The next task for the steering group was to distil the day into a strategy that would form the basis of actions over the next few years. We took as our starting point the idea that people should not be defined by the services that they receive or by their illnesses or disabilities. They should be treated as people first. They have the right to be treated as equal and active partners by statutory and voluntary organisations in the borough. Before we can change the way in which services are delivered to older people, it is first necessary to change the way in which we think about older people.

The draft strategy has been written and contains six objectives. It is about securing wider ownership of the citizen-based approach that I have outlined; a sustained partnership between older people and statutory organisations; the promotion of a positive image of older people; a dialogue between older and younger people; the promotion of active ageing; and, above all, a joined-up approach to achieve a better quality of life for all older people.

The draft strategy is currently subject to consultation, and the feedback so far has been encouraging. The work on programmes such as the national service framework for older people, the Pension Service and the third age service provides a real opportunity to break out of the normal silos and adopt a more person-centred approach.

In Sutton, older people regularly make their voices heard through the seniors forum and through the work of the users and carers group. The Audit Commission's recent series of reports on the well-being of older people argued for the development of local older people's strategies. The commission points out that only 15 per cent. of older people receive care services, yet policies focus on the services to support the most vulnerable people in times of crisis. That neglects the needs of the wide range of older people who clearly aspire to an active and meaningful life.

To meet the needs of the ageing population, there should be a fundamental shift in approach to considering older people as citizens who are valuable resources rather than as dependants. To achieve that aim, the Audit Commission said that it will get local authorities to do five things. First, they should use their community leadership role to develop strategies locally. Secondly, they should have clear, committed leadership on issues relating to older people. Thirdly, they should involve and inform older people thoroughly. Fourthly, they should have good information on population trends. Fifthly, they should provide comprehensive ranges of services for older people and their carers.

Other organisations such as the national health service, voluntary organisations and the Pension Service should engage in older people strategies and undertake some of their investment planning within such frameworks. The commission will monitor all that in its performance assessment for 2005, so local authorities should be mindful of that over the coming years.

I want to ask the Minister a number of questions. Do the Government agree with the Audit Commission that such strategies provide a useful tool for shaping services around the needs of older people, and for thinking and acting outside the traditional service silos? Does he feel able to offer some encouragement to the partnership work that I have outlined this afternoon?

During the conference, concerns were expressed about incomes in old age, particularly but not exclusively those of women. I was grateful on the day that the Pension Service came along and participated in the event. It went away loaded with queries but it was a useful day for it, and it was helpful that it was there. There is a feeling that there is no point in saving because investment and interest are both taxed. Income plays an important part in the choices and independence that an older person can exercise. Does the Minister agree that the Pension Service has a part to play with statutory and voluntary agencies locally to develop programmes to maximise the take-up of the full range of benefits?

I referred to the stereotyping of older people. Ageism is a serious problem. It is a societal and institutional issue and action is required on a number of levels, one of which is legislation. What came across to me during the consultation is that if the scope of the age discrimination legislation that the Government are currently considering is limited to employment, it will fail to tackle the ageism that exists in the provision of public and private sector goods and services. What we really need, and what older people want, is comprehensive age discrimination legislation.

I want to end by expressing my appreciation to those who have made possible all the work that has been done locally. I thank McCarthy and Stone, Abbeyfield, Sutton police, Sutton and Merton PCT and others for their financial sponsorship of the conference. I thank Adrian Davey of the change agent team and Janet Finlay of the community engagement team for their excellent work in facilitating the day. I also thank Les Murrells and all the other members of the users and carers group who helped out on the day. I also appreciate the support of my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on the day. The person I want to thank the most, because they did the most in organising the event and the work before and since is the head of my office, Ruth Dombey. She has worked incredibly hard and done an excellent job on behalf of my constituents.