Thursday 24 March 2011

The mystery of IDS' flat rate pensions speech is now solved! #budget11

by Simon Bottery, Director of Fundraising, Policy and Communications

So now we know the solution to the mystery of Iain Duncan Smith's missing speech. He shelved the announcement of a flat rate pension at the Age UK conference because he didn't want to/was not allowed to steal the Chancellor's Budget thunder.

Except that the sound turned out to be not so much thunder as the vague echo of music we've already heard. Once again the government said little beyond the fact that it was considering the options, adding that any scheme would not apply to current pensioners. The figure of £140 was quoted again but without any clue as to whether this was at today's prices or some future date. So what on earth is going on? I don't pretend to know, but on this evidence you can expect the next installment to come not in any official way but as an unattributable briefing to a Sunday paper. Government by spin, anybody?

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Officials search Whitehall for rest of Iain Duncan Smith's pensions speech to Age UK conference #af11

by Simon Bottery, Director of Fundraising, Policy and Communications

Officials are hunting all over Whitehall for the second half of Iain Duncan Smith's speech on pensions to the Age UK conference yesterday. The Work and Pensions Secretary was supposed to announce a £140 flat rate pension, heavily trailed in that morning's media. But after a promising opening to the speech, the minister simply called for an open debate on pensions reform and sat down. It is now believed that the second half of the speech was blown out of an open taxi window on the way to the conference, or was eaten by the dog, or spontaneously combusted - no one is quite sure.

Sceptics have raised other, unrealistic possibilities for the missing content. Some have said that it was spiked by the Treasury, which still isn't convinced that the proposal will cost nothing (you can see where they're coming from - administration savings are somehow supposed to pay for a 40% increase for most pensioners and a 10% increase for those currently getting the pension credit top up). Others suggest that the Chancellor loves the idea but wants to have a share of the announcement of it.

A shame. As IDS said in the half of the speech he was able to deliver, the current system is so complex that no one knows what they are going to get, which hardly encourages retirement planning. And since a third of those eligible for pension credit don't claim it, the system allows hundreds of thousands of older people to live in poverty needlessly. So the time for reform is long overdue. Looks like we may have to wait just a little longer for that speech to be found before we can see what type of reform the coalition intends.

Friday 4 March 2011

New Campaign Encouraging People in the North West to Seek an Early Dementia Diagnosis

We’re welcoming today’s launch of a new Department of Health pilot campaign in the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber, to help people recognise the signs and symptoms of dementia and urging them to seek advice from their GP.

According to the campaign, there is an estimated 82,661 people living with dementia in the North West, over half of whom are undiagnosed and are consequently missing out on access to treatment and support which could help improve their independence and quality of life.

It can be tough, or even frightening, to admit that you, or someone close to you, might be suffering from dementia. Or you might just not be aware of the signs, but the sooner you discuss it and seek help, the better, since, as the campaign highlights, early diagnosis is key to enabling people to access advice, information and support from social services, voluntary agencies and support groups.

For further information on how to recognise the signs and symptoms of dementia, visit: www.nhs.uk/dementia