Policy

Following up on this year's One Voice conference‚ the Agenda for Later Life 2010 conference will be held at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel‚ London on Thursday 18 March 2010 as part of the launch of Age UK.

To read about the One Voice conference‚ please see below.

On 7th April‚ the One Voice conference marked the joining together of Age Concern and Help the Aged as the newly formed charity dedicated to improving the lives of older people. The conference attracted over 300 delegates from national and local government‚ national charities and private sector providers‚ think tanks and other policy makers‚ local Age Concerns and individual older people.

We have received some fantastic feedback from delegates both for the conference and for the historic step we have taken to become One Voice.

Strong line up of speakers

The conference was chaired by Jackie Ashley‚ Guardian columnist‚ and featured a strong line up of speakers. 

Dianne Jeffrey‚ Chairman of the new organisation‚ opened the conference and introduced Tom Wright‚ Chief Executive‚ who provided the context for the day‚ and talked about his ambitions for the new organisation. Michelle Mitchell‚ Charity Director‚ presented our public policy agenda.

Many high profile speakers contributed to the day‚ including Alan Johnson MP‚ Secretary of State for Health who paid tribute to Age Concern and Help the Aged‚ and welcomed the merger. He highlighted the importance of supporting older workers‚ highlighted the Government’s forthcoming Ageing Strategy‚ noted the reform of the social care system and condemned age discrimination‚ announcing a new review to examine how health authorities can move towards a ban on age discrimination.

Interviews with people with experience of the care system

Interviews with people with real life experiences of the care system followed‚ either as users or carers or family members. There’s no one better to set out what needs to change‚ and to show us the challenge ahead:

• Elizabeth was told her father needed 24-hour supervision and was given just one week to choose a residential care home to meet his needs.
• Pamela is a care service user and receives Direct Payments to arrange her own care.  She lives in her own home and has 24 hours’ help.
• Enid provides round-the-clock care for her 74-year-old mother‚ Maria‚ who has dementia.

The afternoon agenda

The afternoon included a speech from Rosie Winterton MP‚ Minister for Pensions and the Ageing Society. Rosie spoke in detail about plans for the Ageing Strategy and the Government’s plans to support people to prepare for later life. She also discussed the success of initiatives such as LinkAge Plus‚ which provide a one-stop shop for older people to access to a range of integrated services. Rosie spoke of the need to harness the older people’s knowledge and experience and to ensure that older people’s needs are taken into account‚ in all arenas‚ including the private sector. 

A panel response included leading academic Professor Michael Marmot who emphasised the stark links between poverty and life expectancy and spoke about the need for more joined up working in order to tackle inequality amongst older people. Delegates also heard from Matthew Cherian‚ Chief Executive of HelpAge India‚ who described the multiple discrimination experienced by many older people in India‚ and Nicola Brewer‚ Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission who spoke of attitudes to older people in the UK.

Rt Hon Theresa May MP‚ Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions closed the conference with a speech focusing on barriers to employment‚ and three issues the Conservatives are calling for in the Chancellor’s  budget:

• abolition of the basic rate of income tax on savings
• a £2‚000 increase in age related personal allowance
• the abolition of compulsory purchase annuities at 75.
  

Contact:
Gelske Huyer
Age Concern and Help the Aged
Astral House
1268 London Road
London
SW16 4ER

Telephone:
020 8765 7605

Fax:
020 8765 1366

Email:
Events Department