Our Priorities for Older People

Tomorrow the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, will set out his government’s priorities in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.

Ahead of his statement, Age Scotland has sent MSPs information on 10 issues affecting older people which we believe the Scottish Government must prioritise.

You can read an overview of them below.  

1) An Older People’s Minister

We are calling for the First Minister to reinstate a named Minister for Older People role within Government. We have heard from numerous older people, groups and organisations who feel older people’s issues have been downgraded within the portfolio of the new Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees.

You can find out more about our campaign and how to get involved here.

2) A Pensioner Poverty Strategy

With 150,000 pensioners in Scotland living in relative poverty after housing costs and no clear Scottish Government action to tackle this to point to, we are calling for the development of a national Pensioner Poverty Strategy.

3) National benefits uptake campaign

Every year hundreds of millions of pounds in social security goes unclaimed by older people. We want to see a Scottish nationwide benefits uptake campaign focusing on older people to increase awareness of what’s available, tackle stigma, and break down barriers to claiming support.

4) Social care reform

From the many cases raised with our freephone Helpline, it is clear that social care requires urgent reform. Efforts to do this cannot be put on hold, and we are calling for the Government to clarify its plans for social care immediately.   

5) Access to healthcare

Older people should be able to access the healthcare they need, when they need it. We are urging the Scottish Government to ensure long waiting times are tackled and that preventative healthcare is promoted.

6) Tackling social isolation and loneliness

Too many older people feel lonely and isolated – we are asking the Scottish Government to tackle this by providing funding for programmes and activities which connect people, such as older people’s groups.

7) Better homes

We believe people must be able to live independently and well in their own home for as long as they wish to. We see building more accessible, affordable, and energy efficient homes suitable for older people as part of the solution to this.

8) Reducing fuel poverty

Up to 4 in 10 older people were living in fuel poverty in the summer of 2022. More must be done to increase awareness of energy efficiency programmes which could help. Targeted offers of home energy efficiency assessments to low income households should also be considered. 

9) An Older People’s Commissioner

We believe the role of an Older People’s Commissioner should be established to safeguard older people’s human rights and hold public bodies and Government to account.

10) Improved dementia support

In 2020/21, only one third of people with a new dementia diagnosis were referred to receive Post Diagnostic Support – falling well short of the target for everyone newly diagnosed to receive a full year’s PDS. We are calling for the forthcoming National Dementia Strategy to re-think the approach to PDS to include community-based, tailored, and person-centred support.

Read more about our 10 priorities and why they are important.