WESTMINSTER “THERE’S NO MONEY FOR CARE IN SEFTON” MEETING CONTRAVENES “NO MONEY IS NOT AN EXCUSE” HIGH COURT RULING.

SEFTON CARE ASSOCIATION

PRESS RELEASE

May 22, 2012.

WESTMINSTER “THERE’S NO MONEY FOR CARE IN SEFTON” MEETING CONTRAVENES “NO MONEY IS NOT AN EXCUSE” HIGH COURT RULING.

Sefton Care Association (SCA) has been told “there is no money” to pay for the shortfall and backdating of care fees frozen by Sefton Borough Council – in direct contravention of a High Court ruling that says “no money is not an excuse”.

Members of SCA met with Care Minister Paul Burstow, John Pugh MP, Sefton Borough Council Chief Executive Margaret Carney and other officials in Westminster, but before SCA could put its case, the “there’s no money” line was delivered.

“As soon as that was said we realised that not only was our meeting a waste of time, but also that the situation had not been properly researched,” said Dan Lingard of Sefton Care Association.

“As the meeting was conducted under Chatham House Rules, we can’t say who said there was no money – but it was said nevertheless.

“Sefton Council has already defied a High Court ruling and told care home owners and the borough’s vulnerable that it will be freezing care fees for both 2011/12 and 2012/13, a dispute which led to SCA committee members being invited to Westminster to discuss the issue.

“But it’s clear there was no intention of arriving at any sort of a conclusion in that meeting which would be of any benefit to people needing care, or care home owners and operators – especially when we were told ‘there’s no money’.

“But what people in the meeting seemed to have lost sight of is that the High Court ruling in November 2011 said that lack of resources is no excuse for not fulfilling care obligations.”

In paragraph 90 of the ruling, His Honour Judge Raynor QC, sitting as a judge of the High Court, quoted an earlier precedent and ruling: “In paragraph 46(2) of his judgment in the Forest Care Home case, Hickinbottom J stated: ‘In deciding whether a person is in need of care and accommodation, an authority is entitled to have regard to its own limited financial resources. However, having set that threshold and found that a particular person surpasses it, an authority is under an obligation to provide care and accommodation in fulfilment of its section 21 obligations (under the National Assistance 1948), which is a specific duty on the authority owed to an individual, not a target duty: lack of resources is no excuse for non-fulfilment of that obligation…’

“The Claimants (Sefton Care Association) submit that the evidence in this case shows that the decision to freeze fees was taken for budgetary reasons alone or at least to an improper extent, without there being any attempt to balance other factors against the need for financial savings.”

Dan Lingard said: “In other words, no money is not an excuse – care obligations must be fulfilled, and they are not being fulfilled by a freeze in care fees, which, given inflation and other factors, means that not only have care fees been frozen – they’ve actually fallen.”

Judge Raynor ruled that Sefton Council should not have frozen 2011/2012 payment levels to elderly people in care in the borough, and that it did not pay due regard to the actual cost of care in making its unilateral decision. He directed Sefton Council to enter into consultation with local care homes, and to reassess care payments for the 2011/2012 financial year – and establish the actual cost of care by which care fee rates could be set.

But Sefton Council not only ignored the February 9, 2012 deadline to respond, it has also said it will freeze care fees retrospectively, and for the 2012/13 financial year as well – meaning that care fees have been static despite the Retail Prices Index rising nearly 12% in the three years since care fees were last increased.

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For further information:

Iain Macauley 07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

@SeftonCareAssn

SOUTHERN CROSS CLOSURE: KEEP EVERYONE INFORMED - AND RING-FENCE CARE SPEND, SAGA TELLS GOVERNMENT.

DR ROS ALTMANN
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA
PRESS RELEASE

July 11, 2011.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLOSURE: KEEP EVERYONE INFORMED - AND RING-FENCE CARE SPEND, SAGA TELLS GOVERNMENT.

Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s group Saga, says the Southern Cross care homes closure maintains the pressure on Government to ring-fence spending on care provision, to keep residents and their families well informed of developments in a bid to drive certainty and reassurance – and to drive plans to enable people to benefit from receiving care in their own homes.

“This has become a fast-changing news story, so communication with those most affected – residents and their families – must be clear, consistent and frequent to avoid the uncertainty that plagued those affected in the early phases of the demise of Southern Cross,” said Dr Altmann.

“In June everybody involved resolved to deliver a decisive way forward for Southern Cross and its residents by the autumn of this year. There was a degree of certainty in that – although not enough, of course – and while we are pleased there is now some progress towards resolution, of paramount importance is that residents, their families and the staff need reassurance about the future level of care provided in the care homes being transferred to new owners or operators.

“The fundamental problem remains that Government has historically not put enough money into care; we say that a priority must be to enable more people to receive care in their own home. But local authority budgets are being cut, and they are not willing to pay enough to cover the costs of providing care of a quality that ensures dignity and decency to care home residents – or those wanting to stay in their own home - so in the case of care homes, individuals or families end up subsidising state-funded residents which is obviously not a sustainable situation.

“The £2billion that Government has supposedly given to local authorities for additional care funding is not ring-fenced for care, so it is not being spent on care - and councils are still cutting care budgets, not increasing them despite the growing demand and need for care. This is a problem across the whole care sector and needs to be addressed urgently.

“We have been looking at just one example, Worcestershire, where the local authority is willing to pay just £70 a day to cover full board, meals, accommodation and staff to look after residents. It doesn’t take a financial expert to appreciate this is simply not enough to cover costs, particularly as inflation has reached such high levels.

“The Southern Cross situation stresses the importance of driving through Andrew Dilnot’s recommendations – whether in current form or modified – which will help capacity and funding alleviate pressures throughout care provision.”

Ends

Further information:
Dr. Ros Altmann
Director-General, Saga
ros.altmann@saga.co.uk
www.saga.co.uk
07545 504513
Twitter @SagaRosAltmann

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

RE-DEFINING ‘OLD’; IT’S NOT 65 - IT’S 93.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

PRESS RELEASE

April 24, 2011.

RE-DEFINING ‘OLD’; IT’S NOT 65 - IT’S 93.

When Her Majesty the Queen celebrated her 85^th birthday on April 21, 2011, she may have finally re-defined Britain’s perception of what is “old”; it’s not 65 - it’s 93.

But the question is who will have the guts to decline Her Majesty for insurance for her cars or foreign travel on age grounds, says over-50s lifestyle group Saga, one of the very few who’d quote the Queen for her Land Rover - or for more than 30 days foreign travel a year.

“If the Queen was living in Buckingham Avenue rather than Buckingham Palace, then, despite her proven ability to match or better world leaders half her age, home or away, she’ll find it a bit tougher to get insurance to drive, or travel abroad. It’s all down to a perception of age and what is ‘old’,” said Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of Saga.

“In the year the Queen was born, 1926, the definition of ‘old’ was effectively set in stone, and we became stuck with it.

“That definition of ‘old age’ has survived for generations: 1926 was the year the state pension age was set at 65, and established the perception that we’re officially very old and past-it at 65. At the time, around 60% of people did not live long enough to collect their state pension.

“But because of the setting of that milestone, our mindset today says 65 is old – as if every older person around us is an exception rather than the rule.

“In 1926, average life expectancy was 61 for women and just 57 for men, so the pension age was 14% beyond a man's average life expectancy.  In 2011, life expectancy is 82 for women and 77 for men.  14% beyond that would be age 93 for women and 88 for men.  

“So, by this new definition, our Queen may not yet be very 'old'. Indeed, around a fifth of people alive today will live to 100 - and there’s a very good chance that could include the Queen too, given her family’s famous longevity.

“But even people in their 90s and beyond embarrass younger generations with their wisdom and vitality.

“At 85, the Queen is a renowned wit, a handy Land Rover driver, has boundless energy both on public duty and in privately enjoying the great outdoors. But how many times do we meet hugely active older people and say, ‘you can’t be that old, surely?’ They should actually be considered the rule, not the exception.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.saga.co.uk

LANDMARK REPORT REVEALS GRIM REALITIES OF LIFE FOR BRITAIN’S OVER 50s

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

SAGA QUARTERLY REPORT

PRESS RELEASE

February 15, 2011.

LANDMARK REPORT REVEALS GRIM REALITIES OF LIFE FOR BRITAIN’S OVER 50s

Deep concerns about cost of living, income and unemployment hit quality of life

Policymakers warned as pre-retirees and lowest socio-economic groups suffer most
Video interviews with Dr Ros Altmann. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2uaU2Qyjk4

The Saga Quarterly Report, a comprehensive analysis of the lives of Britain's 21 million over 50s, has uncovered a bleak picture.  The Report, published today, is the first authoritative study to combine serious economic analysis with evidence on well-being, happiness, worries and living standards of over 50s.  It makes grim reading. 

The quality of life for the over 50s is worsening as they are suffering falling income, rising inflation and higher unemployment.  They report being increasingly worried about the cost of living and are cutting back on life's pleasures, such as eating out and holidays.  Hardest hit are 50-59 year olds, and the lower socioeconomic groups across all over 50 age bands are suffering disproportionately. 

"People sometimes paint the older generation as ‘the lucky ones’ with fewer problems than others. The evidence does not support this view", says Dr. Ros Altmann, Director-General of Saga, the over 50s group.

"Some are fine, but the majority are currently struggling and the worst affected are just short of retirement.  Their pensions will not deliver the income they were expecting, their savings income has evaporated and more are losing their jobs.  Once out of work, they find it hard to get back in.  In short, their lives may never recover, but their plight has so far been ignored by policymakers."

The Saga Quarterly Report is the first to combine hard economic data with survey evidence on well-being.  This echoes the Government's upcoming initiative to measure national well-being, due to start in April 2011.

Saga commissioned respected independent economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) to analyse official economic data for the over 50s, showing trends in their income, unemployment and cost of living.  Saga also commissioned Populus to conduct a nationwide survey, asking more than 10,000 over 50s about developments in their happiness, health, standard of living and leisure spending as well as reporting their increasing worries. Cebr analysed these Survey results to compile the Saga Quality of Life Index (QOLI) for the over 50s, which is an innovative indicator of well-being for this important group.  Combined with the economic data, the Saga Quarterly Report provides a comprehensive picture of life for Britain's over 50s.  It will be updated every three months.

"The Government itself wants to move beyond just looking at economic factors when assessing the nation's progress.  Saga agrees and has taken the initiative to do this for the over 50s," stated Ros Altmann.

Key findings of the Saga Quarterly Report

• Over-50s quality of life has worsened over the past year
• 50-59 year olds and the lowest socio-economic groups across all over 50 age bands are having the toughest time
• Inflation is higher for 50-64 year-olds than for the rest of the population
• Unemployment for the over 50s is 69 per cent higher than it was pre-recession, compared with a 55 per cent rise across all age groups
• Long term unemployment has hit the over-50s hardest, with 43 per cent on the dole for more than a year (compared to 27 per cent of 18-24 year-olds)
• Rising cost of living is biggest worry for over-50s (63% more concerned than a year ago)
• Falling income from savings worries over half (54%) of over 50s
• Nearly half the over-50s have cut down on eating out to save money.

Charles Davis, Cebr economist said: “This report should prove a highly important piece of regular quarterly research.  As the UK’s population of people over 50 continues to grow it is imperative that their concerns and challenges are tracked and understood.

Ros Altmann added, "As the Pensions Bill has its second reading in Parliament, policymakers need to recognise these realities.  The unemployment findings are particularly worrying.  If the over 50s are increasingly locked out of the labour market, measures to increase the state pension age too rapidly could do more harm than good.”

“There are 21 million over-50s in Britain, and if they’re cutting back on spending it could have massive implications for the economy.”

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.  The Saga Quarterly Report combines hard factual statistical data from official sources (such as Office for National Statistics and Family Expenditure Survey) with Saga’s own exclusive nationwide Populus Survey of more than 10,000 people aged over 50.

In identifying some of the key drivers that impact the daily lives of this age group and by tracking the quality of their lives, Saga hopes the Quarterly Report and its Quality of Life and Price Indices will improve the understanding of the lives of the over 50s, challenge the way society perceives age and ensure that the concerns and interests of the over 50s are on the agendas of politicians, decision-makers and the media.

2.  Each report will include The Saga Quality of Life Index which measures perceptions of happiness, standards of living and health and has been modelled by Cebr from Saga Populus Survey data to form an Index which can be tracked over time.

Saga Quality of Life Index - January, 2011

3.  The Report also includes the Saga Price Indices, which are bespoke measures of price inflation for the over 50s, showing how inflation is affecting the cohorts age 50-64, 65-74 and the over 75.  These indices have been compiled for Saga by the Cebr, using statistical data from the Family Expenditure Survey to re-weight the official basket of the consumer prices index to represent the spending patterns of each age group. 

4.  David Cameron announced last November that he wanted a better measure of how the country is doing than gross domestic product (GDP) or other economic indicators.  He said ''it is high time we admitted that taken on its own, GDP is an incomplete way of measuring a country's progress''.  He said it should be replaced by charting national well-being, adding that 'the country would be better off if we thought about well-being as well as economic growth''.  A new measure of national well-being ''could give us a general picture of whether life is improving' and eventually 'lead to government policy that is more focused not just on the bottom line but on all those things that make life worthwhile.''  From April 2011, the Office for National Statistics will start the ''National Well-being Project'' which will ask people to rate various measures of their own well-being and result in the first official 'happiness index' in 2012.  David Cameron, as well as other world leaders considering similar moves, are responding to calls by economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, who argued that countries should include more subjective indicators in measures of prosperity, and should move away from the standard economic measures.  Saga decided the over 50s could not afford to wait any longer, as the policy debate should be informed about their well-being now.  Our report shows that we were right.

5.  Saga has a number of case studies of people in their fifties who have been badly hit by rising cost of living, and/or falling savings income and/or long-term unemployment and are willing to explain how they feel left out by Government policy and hard hit by the economic backdrop.

The Saga Quality of Life Index

The Saga Quality of Life Index is comprised of three equally weighted sub-indices:

1. The Standard of Living Index – which is based on answers to the survey question: “Over the past year, how has your standard of living changed?”
2. The Happiness Index - which is based on answers to the survey question: “All things considered, since last year would you say you are much more/more/about as/less/ much less happy?”
3.  The Health Index - which is based on answers to the survey question: “Compared to this time last year, how is your health?”

Answers to the questions (which are multiple choice) are scored according to the following conventions:

A weighted average of the survey responses, based on these scores, yields each of the sub indices. A score of 100 would imply that every survey respondent has indicated much improved outcome for the sub index. A score of -100 would imply all respondents indicating a much worse outcome.

The Saga Quality of Life Index is the (equally weighted) average of the Standard of Living, Happiness and Health sub-indices. It too is limited to the range -100 to 100. A score of 100 would imply that every survey respondent has indicated much improved standard of living, happiness and health compared with 12 months ago. A score of -100 would indicate much worse outcomes, for each of these indicators, for each survey respondent.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.saga.co.uk