North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to work with all the “brilliant” organisations already working on the ground to promote independent living for older people.
Mr Isherwood is concerned that the Welsh Government’s focus when it comes to the wellbeing of older people fails in practice to take into account the importance of independent living.
Calling for an oral Statement on the International Day of Older Persons in the Assembly this week, he said:
“We had a written statement on the International Day of Older Persons last Friday, which was full of self-evident truths, such as that many older people want to keep working and that older people want to be safe, but very little specific action by the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government has said: ‘We have committed to developing a nationwide and cross-government strategy to address loneliness and isolation…We also know the importance of befriending schemes’, but that’s déjà vu all over again.
“Every Welsh Government since I came here 13 years ago has said exactly the same thing, but what’s missing from here, anywhere, is reference to the importance of independent living and co-producing with older people to ensure that early intervention and prevention drives their well-being. I’ll just conclude by referring to the older person’s day event I attended last Friday, which was to publicise the services available to our older people in order to promote independent living.
“So, rather than creating a Welsh Government strategy, how will the Welsh Government engage with the Co-production Network for Wales, the Supporting People providers in Wales, the Welsh Reablement Alliance, and all those other brilliant organisations already working on the ground but needing the Welsh Government to engage with them as equal partners, to take this agenda forward?”
The Leader of the House, Jane Hutt, replied: “I also attended a very important event in my constituency of the over-50s strategy, which has developed from our very pioneering Older People’s Strategy here in the Assembly. It’s very important that there is continuity in terms of the Government’s perspective in terms of intervention and engagement. But, of course, we take on board the point, that it is older people - the over-50s - that are now emerging, in terms of strategic objectives, and who are actually taking the lead in terms of policy for older people. That, of course, is the essence of co-production.”
Mr Isherwood added: “If we are going to support independence, improve lives and engage communities, this Welsh Government must stop pussy footing around and instead listen at last to the experts working in our communities who are already performing miracles by doing things differently, identifying the personal outcomes that people wish to achieve in all aspects of their everyday lives, and working with them to remove the barriers they face in achieving these outcomes”.
ENDS