Age UK: Government missed 'big opportunity'

Changes to the private pensions system were the big announcements affecting older people in this year’s Queen’s Speech, bringing into effect the shakeup of the annuities regime announced in the Budget. While these measures, if they are done in the right way, are very welcome, the Government missed a big opportunity to introduce legislation to protect more vulnerable older people from abuse, and to seriously address the cold over a million older householders find themselves in every year.

So what was good? The Government announced two new Pensions Bills for the coming parliamentary session. The Pensions Tax Bill will give effect to the changes announced in the Budget around the liberalisation of the annuities market, whilst the Private Pensions Bill will facilitate Collective Defined Contribution pensions. While both these measures are welcome, the most pressing issue must be to ensure the Pensions Tax Bill – the biggest shake up in private pensions for generations – delivers a system of robust, independent guidance to empower people to make informed choices on their pensions throughout later life.

But what was missing? The issue of abuse of older people has been brought in to sharp focus in recent years from the high profile cases of the disgraceful abuse and mistreatment, highlighted by investigations such as Panorama’s report into abuse in care homes broadcast in April. Age UK estimates that up to 500,000 older people in the UK are abused each year. This equates to roughly 5% of the older population. Given the scale of abuse, how deeply it impacts on individuals’ lives, and the public outcry around the maltreatment of older people it is difficult to see why a Bill on this issue was not part of the legislative programme for the last year of the Coalition Government. In particular, Age UK would be keen to see the Government legislate to make it an offence to neglect a vulnerable adult, and to ensure that directors of organisations that provide health or care services can be held accountable for neglect or abuse.

Finally, we saw some interesting proposals for ‘zero carbon homes’ and plans to build new garden cities. These are welcome, but fall far short of the level of ambition which is needed, especially to address fuel poverty. There are over 1m older households suffering from fuel poverty in England and the UK has the highest rate of fuel poverty and excess winter deaths in Europe. To stop this, we need to see full-scale retrofitting of existing housing stock, starting with the most vulnerable residents, many of whom are older people.

All in all, there are some very welcome proposals for future pensioners in today’s speech. But there were also big missed chances, especially to improve the lives of more vulnerable older people today who may be at risk of abuse or suffering from cold homes.