RDC(3) P&D1

Rural Development Sub-Committee

Inquiry into Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wales

Response from Age Concern Cymru

1.1 Age Concern Cymru is pleased to respond to the Rural Development Sub-Committee’s call for evidence on poverty and deprivation in rural Wales. Age Concern Cymru is the leading all-Wales charity working with and for older people. Age Concern in Wales is made up of Age Concern Cymru and 27 locally based, independent Age Concern Organisations. Our activities include campaigning, research, advocacy, information, support for forums of older people and befriending. Through the combination of an all-Wales presence, local community based organisations and our network of over 200 older people Age Concern in Wales is well positioned to be in touch with the issues affecting older people.

1.2 Each of the Local Authorities identified as primarily rural in the call for evidence letter is covered by a local Age Concern Organisation. These organisations are key providers of services to older people in these areas and have a great deal of experience of the issues that affect older people living in rural communities. Two of these organisations in particular Age Concern Gwynedd a Mon (covering Ynys Mon and Gwynedd) and Age Concern North Wales Central (covering Conwy and Denbighshire) have provided us with information that will be very useful to the committee in its consideration of these issues. These 2 pieces of evidence form the basis of our response and are submitted alongside this brief summary of some of the key points.

1.3 Some of the key points that we hope the committee will draw from the supplementary evidence that we are providing are as follows:

• The importance of post offices to local communities - Age Concern Cymru has long campaigned to save local post offices and we are aware that the effects of post office closures can be felt particularly strongly by older people in rural areas. Age Concern England’s report "Stamped Out? Let’s make rural post offices work for older people” highlighted this in detail. An opinion poll conducted by ICM for Age Concern Cymru found that 76% of people aged over 65 in Wales use their local Post Office at least once a week. The figure was 73% for people ages 55-64 and the poll also showed that overall in Wales 56% of people use their local post office at least once a week. The results demonstrated that post office use was even higher in more rural areas, for example 81% of people in Gwynedd use their post office at least once a week. This shows that a considerable number of people are using their local service on a regular basis and many older people in Wales have told us that they view it as a "lifeline.”

• Isolation and loneliness - this can be a key issue for older people living in rural areas. Some older people may have no day to day contact with another person and due to health or other circumstances (transport, lack of local facilities for example) they may be deprived of opportunities to interact with others and have social contact. The UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life conducted by Age Concern and the Mental Health Foundation reported that "Social Isolation is a strong risk factor for poor mental health and is experienced by a million older people in the UK.”(1) Enabling social interaction and the capacity for older people to take part in activities such as life long learning is key to promoting positive mental health and can help to reduce the need for intensive health and social care support. There is also evidence from the Department of Health / Comic Relief study into the prevalence of elder abuse that abuse is more likely where older people are lonely or isolated.

• Poverty - "Looking to the Future: Ageing in rural communities” is the evidence provided by Age Concern Gwynedd a Mon through the RuralWIDe initiative with the University of Wales, Bangor. This report highlights that 22% of the older participants surveyed in Gwynedd were unable to make regular savings of at least £10 per month.(2) Older people account for approximately 18% of all people living in poverty(3) and these problems can be particularly acute in rural areas where prices for goods can be higher and expenditure on transport etc higher.   

• Transport can be a particular issue for older people in rural areas and many people rely heavily on public transport to enable them to access public services such as surgeries and hospitals. Where public transport facilities are not available older people rely on family and friends or are left isolated and unable to access services. This is an area where at both a local and a policy level joined-up thinking is required. The introduction of free bus travel for older people is greatly welcomed but is of no use in areas where there is no bus service.

• Social care services - there is a need to ensure that social care services meet the needs of all service users and this can have particular challenges in rural areas. Services need to be person-centered and there is a need to deliver more services in people’s own homes. This will avoid the need for older people from rural areas to travel miles for appointments and possibly to have to move into a care home miles away from their local community. Making more services available in people’s homes and giving people more control over their care services would help to address these issues.

• Information and Advice (I&A) services and benefits take up - this is key to addressing the poverty issues in many rural areas. Older people need reliable, impartial I&A services to enable them to claim the benefits they are entitled to. The voluntary sector, through organisations such as Age Concern, is well positioned to deliver these services and does so very successfully in many areas. However, these services are constantly under threat of closure due to loss of funding. There is a need for sustainable funding of I&A services across all parts of Wales with a particular focus on the way that this needs to be delivered in rural areas to reach the most vulnerable people.

1.4 Age Concern Cymru feels that both the Welsh Assembly Government and Local Authorities have a role to play in addressing the issues of poverty and deprivation in rural areas. We are very pleased that older people have been recognised as one of the population groups that this work should focus on and we are also pleased that the Inquiry aims to look at both poverty and deprivation. For many older people in rural areas lack of services, inability to access services and lack of social contact can lead to an increase in a need for intensive health and social care services. These issues should be considered as part of the committee’s work.

1.5 The 2 pieces of evidence provided by Age Concerns Gwynedd a Mon and North Wales Central are submitted with this response. The North Wales Central response is attached as an electronic document but the report from Gwynedd a Mon is only available in hard copy and will be sent via post along with a hard copy of this submission. [Note: Anyone wishing a hard copy of this report should contact Michelle Matheron, Policy and Information Officer, Age Concern Cymru, Tel: 029 2043 1547 or email michelle.matheron@accymru.org.uk]

We are happy to provide any further information to assist the work of the committee as necessary.

Michelle Matheron
Policy Officer
March 2008

(1) Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life: Age Concern & The Mental Health Foundation, 2006  - www.mhilli.org

(2) Looking to the Future: Ageing in rural communities: Vanessa Burholt et al, 2007

(3) Older People in Wales Some Basic Facts: Age Concern Cymru, 2007