Age Concern fires warning to David Cameron
Conservative leader David Cameron has been told to start delivering policies to lift pensioners from poverty if his party wins the next general election.
The ultimatum came from charity Age Concern as the man likely to be the next Prime Minister outlined his aims for helping people in old age.
Gordon Lishman, director general of the charity, was part of a panel at a Conference Question Time-style debate on the funding, services and care for older people.
He said: “Unsurprisingly the answer to poverty is more money.”
The audience, a mix of conference delegates and members of the public, heard that older people are struggling to make ends meet from soaring fuel bills, council tax increases and having to use savings to pay for care.
“Their quality of life is suffering,” he said. “They are cutting back on essentials such as food and warmth just to cope.”
Mr Lishman explained a major problem is that many are not claiming benefits which are there due to a combination of ignorance, the complexity of the system and, thanks to a £100 million cut in local authority grants to charities such as Age Concern, Citizens Advice Bureau and Help The Aged, a lack of good advice.
He called for a complete rethink of fuel costs, adding: “We need to look at the structure of the energy markets, because they are not working for older people.”
Age Concern has enjoyed a dialogue with the Conservatives over many years but now he warned: “The party needs to go a stage further and start answering those questions we have raised.”
The debate, at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, was a Party Conference first offering members of the public, outside the political class, to join in.
Among them was Sid Ashby, of the West Midlands Pensioners Convention, who said: “We are talking about poverty in retirement then what we need to do is increase the basic state pension.
“Those earning more through second pensions will willingly pay some back in tax. If you increase the basic pension there is less means testing, less bureaucracy and form filling, and any surplus you pay back through income tax.”
In his opening speech David Cameron pledged to tackle the ‘injustices’ of the system and restore the link between pensions and earnings - the link was broken by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government 28 years ago.
He said: “Our aim to achieve policies for older people is simple. We want to help people who have worked all their lives and given so much to their country to improve their quality of life.
“We have already announced some things. The pension should be uprated with earnings to help with the cost of living and a priority is the NHS which is a lifeline for many.”
But he added that a key area of concern, often neglected by politicians, is social care.
“When we talk to older people they feel an injustice that people who have worked, saved and paid taxes all their lives having to pay for long term care, while their next door neighbour who has never worked, never contributed can get it all for free.
“We Conservatives have got to find a better answer to that question.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling added that a key element for any system of support would be ‘simplicity’.
The Conservative Conference extra sessions, open to members of the public, continue on Tuesday with a debate on the environment and climate change at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 9am.
