Policy Briefings
Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland produces and distributes policy briefings on a range of topics concerning older people, age and ageing. These are in pdf file format so you will need Adobe Reader to view these. You can download this software for free by clicking here.
Fuel Poverty
Fuel poverty blights the lives of more than half of all pensioner households in Scotland because of a combination of poor quality housing, low incomes and high energy prices. The Scottish and UK Governments provide help for some households but without a step-change in funding they will not meet the 2016 target for eradicating fuel poverty. To find out more read our Fuel Poverty Policy Briefing.
Telecare
Although there is no set definition of Telecare, Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland uses the same definition as the Scottish Government and defines telecare as "the remote or enhanced delivery of health and social services to people in their own home by means of telecommunications and computerised systems. Telecare usually refers to equipment and detectors that provide continuous, automatic and remote monitoring of care needs, emergencies and lifestyle changes, using information and communication technology (ICT) to trigger human responses, or to shut down equipment to prevent hazards." As Scotland's population is getting older the use of telecare will increase and to find out more about this important issue please read our Telecare Policy Briefing.
Age Discrimination
In many cases age discrimination is not straightforward or immediately apparent - it can be unintentional or an unanticipated consequence of policy or behaviour. Age discrimination does not impact exclusively on older people and can affect people of any age. In the realm of employment age discrimination is a genuine and serious problem which has an impact on wider society. For example, it is estimated that around 1 million people aged 50 to State Pension Age are ‘economically inactive' but would like to be working. Although age discrimination is not the only reason that these people are out of work, outlawing it removes one of the major barriers that they face when seeking employment.
We support the forthcoming single equalities bill, especially where it seeks to end Age Discrimination in the provision of goods and services. We have been strongly campaigning in favour of this as it is an area where older people are openly discriminated against and it regularly impacts on their quality of life. For example, it is perfectly legal for an insurance company to refuse to offer travel or car insurance to customers over the age of 70. Similarly, there is no obligation for businesses to consider how well older people will be able to use their premises, although some of these issues are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. We would also like to see age included in the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure that public sector service providers have an obligation to consider how people of different ages will be affected by their decisions.
Around one third of UK employers operate a compulsory retirement age which is a policy which will become increasingly problematic as Scotland's population ages. In addition, the current law only obliges employers to consider a request to keep working beyond 65; a request that can be turned down without good reason. We strongly believe that there is no objective reason for people to retire at 65 and that they should have the option to continue working if they are both willing and able.
Our policy briefing on this topic is currently being rewritten and should be available soon but if you have any questions in the mean time please contact us.