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Older people in our society deserve every opportunity to age well, in communities that value their experience. Local concerns need local solutions.
Local authorities can take the lead in developing innovative ‘ageing well’ approaches alongside partner agencies.This is a challenging agenda. We are facing unprecedented reductions in public sector funding, at the same time there is an unprecedented increase in the numbers of older people.
The Ageing Well programme is designed to support local authorities to improve their services for older people within this challenging environment. It will be delivered by Local Government Improvement and Development.
How Local Government Improvement and Development is supporting councils
Ageing Well is part of the Government’s desire to shift power from Westminster to local people and their communities. The programme will encourage local authorities to take the lead and to work in partnership with other local organisations. This will help develop imaginative approaches to the issues faced in their particular community. An essential aspect of the programme is helping local authorities to improve efficiency while maintaining quality services.
The aims of the programme are to:
* provide a better quality of life for older people through local services that are designed to meet their needs, and which recognise the huge contribution that people in later life make to their local communities
* support authorities to improve efficiency whist still delivering quality services
* encourage local authorities to engage with older people and to include them in service design and delivery
* encourage partnership working with other organisations to join-up services and provide innovative solutions to local issues.
In addition, it will support local authorities to use their resources effectively to:
* promote wellbeing in later life
* ensure that older people can live independently for longer
* engage older people in civic life
* tackle social isolation by recognising older people's potential.
The programme will both consolidate current best practice from local authorities and the lessons learned from earlier pilot activities, as well as harnessing leading innovative thinking.
The programme will be sector-led to:
* draw on the best practice and the most promising innovation
* provide peer challenge to enable local authorities to identify opportunities for greater efficiency and productivity
* support local leadership at both a political and managerial level
* undertake ‘bespoke’ work to meet the needs of individual authorities.
There are no simple solutions, but there are a number of activities that councils can and should explore, including:
* Strategic approaches: Developing more strategic approaches to the reality of an ageing society, as small or incremental changes will not be sufficient to meet the scale of the challenge.
* Partnership working: Maximising efficiencies and effectiveness through greater partnership working council departments working with other public, voluntary and community sector bodies in an area (‘back office’ as well as ‘service delivery’). Developing local solutions and delivering ‘Places good to grow old in’.
* Quality services: Minimising any adverse impact of budget reductions on the wellbeing of older people.
* Opportunities: Doing more to harness the capabilities and energy of older people as part of delivering greater wellbeing for themselves, others and their community.
* Innovation: Drawing on innovative thinking to radically reappraise what the local area can realistically deliver, to whom and through what funding mechanisms.
* Engaging and consulting: Involving older people themselves in discussions about priorities and opportunities for improving their wellbeing.
* Re-engineering: Bringing systems in line with developing evidence about effective prevention and early intervention initiatives.
The Ageing Well Programme is not a panacea. It does, however, provide local authorities with ready access to a wealth of evidenced good practice, peer challenge, support and leading edge innovation.
Source: © Local Government Improvement and Development
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