Queen’s Speeches essentially do two things.
The Head of State sets out her Government’s legislative programme for the year ahead.
However, the Queen also highlights the major reforms which, even though they don’t necessarily require new Bills, the Government nonetheless plans to prioritise.
Independent Age doesn’t necessarily believe significant numbers of new laws need to come into effect, but to make the UK a better country to grow older in, we have some priorities of our own we’d like to see Ministers urgently address.
1. Get ready for ageing
By the end of this Parliament, 1 in 5 people will be aged 65 or older. It is estimated around 1 million people will be living with dementia. Whilst we welcome the Government’s ambitions to deliver security and dignity for people in retirement, it needs to act swiftly to make sure it can deliver on this promise not just now, but well into the future.
In just 15 years’ time, our population will be ageing at an unprecedented rate. There will be double the numbers of over 85s compared with the numbers in 2010.
During this Queen’s Speech, we’d like to see evidence the Government recognises it has to take decisions in the long-term interests of our (increasingly older) population. It can start by announcing a fundamental review of the total amount of funding required to meet future demand for health and social care. Ideally, it would report in time for this autumn’s Spending Review.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been clear that, without changes in policy, age-related spending will account for a greater share of GDP. As a country, we need to openly debate what we are prepared to spend – and the fairest balance of responsibilities between the state and all of us as individuals – as many more of us reach old age.
2. Radically rethink care
The Government would probably be wise to avoid introducing a flagship new piece of healthcare legislation as nearly everyone in the NHS now accepts that what is needed a period of relative stability and space to deliver the NHS England 5 Year Plan.
However, that doesn’t mean Independent Age – or crucially, older people, for that matter – would accept “more of the same”.
We are delighted to see the 5 Year Plan now looks like it will be delivered. The additional £8 billion funding will be the bare minimum required to safeguard the future of the NHS.
The Government will need to act much more boldly, however, to secure dignity and security for people who need care in their own homes.
Without action to help older people live independently for longer, so for example through council support that enables people to wash, dress and do all the things they need to live a decent quality of life, we will continue seeing repeat crises in our hospitals. The very least this Queen’s Speech could do is signal that care services will be given the same level of attention as our NHS.