Consultation for Commissioner for Older People

Dame Joan Harbison chatting with a group at the Derry/ Londonderry consultation event.

The consultation events for Older People’s Commissioner went extremely well, we had some fantastic and diverse feedback from all over the province with massive turnout in both Belfast and Enniskillen. We were also fortunate enough to provide an ideal setting for the launch of the Older Peoples Safety Strategy.

I talked with the groups at each table in each location to find out from them what they felt was the main issues surrounding older people so that I can work on these to pave the way for the commissioner and make sure they are included in the feedback for the consultation for commissioner.

There has been some very interesting ideas coming out from the consultation events and this will make a positive impact on the response to the consultation as a whole but if you missed the events and still want to respond then you have until the 7th January so everyone is welcome to respond either as an individual or as a group.

Some of the main points coming out of consultation were around pensions and benefits as poverty is one of the major concerns affecting older people. This was something I had discussed the previous week whilst in London with Ruth Marks the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Joan Bakewell Older People’s Champion and Angela Eagle.