ROOF Blog

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has announced that Saxon Weald and Eastbourne borough council have been successful in a bid for almost £6.2 million grant funding to develop an extra care scheme in Langney. Derry Court and the land adjacent to it, owned by East Sussex county council, will be developed together to achieve the purpose built scheme.  The development is forecast to provide 62 high-quality self-contained apartments for older people who have an assessed care need and require support with daily living.

Councils will struggle to cope with the financial challenge posed by England’s ageing population and may miss opportunities to innovate and save, says a new report from the Audit Commission. ‘Under Pressure’ says most councils do not know enough about the costs of their ageing population. They may also miss the savings that could flow from preventive services and better work with other organisations. Michael O’Higgins, Chairman of the Audit Commission, said: ‘Most older people live at home, not in care homes. And the longer they do, the happier they are and the less they cost the taxpayer. Innovative, personalised services mean older people stay independent longer, saving public money.’

Nearly one in ten over-70s are still paying to support their children, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said yesterday. Hundreds of thousands of elderly people are bearing the financial burden of a family despite having had to retire in their sixties. The findings reflect the rising ‘boomerang generation’ of twentysomethings returning to the family home to rely on their parents after leaving university, as well as the increasing age at which many couples are having children. On top of this, a quarter of grandparents are paying towards the upbringing of their children’s children, other figures have shown.

Millions of older people could be spared traumatic hospital stays and costly long term care if they were given more help to live independently in their own homes, according to the National Housing Federation. The Federation warned older people were often denied the support they needed to continue to live at home – increasing the risk that they will end up in hospital or in a care home in the long run. Federation chief executive David Orr said ‘By investing more widely in simple preventative measures which help older people live safely at home for as long as possible, the number of hospital admissions and care home places could be cut significantly as a result.’

Thousands of people have begun relying on food handouts to free up money to spend on heating during the recent spell of freezing conditions. The Trussell Trust, a Christian charity that runs a network of food banks across the UK said the cold has led to an unprecedented demand for its parcels, which contain enough donated items to keep a family fed for six days. And research by Age Concern has shown that, despite government relief, one in five older people skip meals to save money for heating. The charity has urged ministers to do more to ease pressure forcing elderly people into the ‘cruel choice’ between food or warmth.

A major study on the impact of devolution on the most disadvantaged people and places has shown that despite falling poverty and improving employment levels in the devolved countries, most significant progress has been down to reserved (UK) powers. The research, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), explore trends in social and economic disadvantage and policy developments in four key areas: housing and homelessness; employment; neighbourhood regeneration and long-term care for older people.

An elderly couple were allowed to die in their freezing home after neighbours’ pleas to authorities for help were ignored, it has been claimed. Jean and Derek Randall were found dead in their home in Northampton by police as Britain was gripped by the coldest winter in 30 years. Sally Keeble, the pensioners’ MP, has now called for an inquiry claiming ‘major failures’ led to the couple being neglected by care workers. Mr Randall, 76, had been trying to get his wife, 79, into a care home after realising that his own flagging health left him incapable of caring for her. Neighbours claimed they repeatedly contacted the county council, NHS staff and charities for over a month about the couple’s plight, but their warnings were allegedly never acted on. Northamptonshire County Council said it was investigating.

Frontline services such as social work, meals on wheels and road maintenance may have to be cut to cover the cost of controversial plans for elderly care at home, local authority leaders have warned. The £670 million required to provide free care for those most in need in their own homes — a key government policy — will add pressure to councils already trying to find multimillion-pound savings. A rise in council tax of between 1 and 2 per cent will be needed to meet the cost, while cuts in adult and childrens’ social care services are an ‘unwanted but very real possibility’, council chiefs have said. The draft Bill, set out in the Queen’s Speech in November, was described by Labour peers as an ‘exocet’ on social-care reform and ‘a demolition job’ on budgets, while MPs and care providers have also criticised it for being ill-conceived and uncosted.

Older people should be offered accommodation in bright, purpose-built communities instead of the shabby and cramped care homes where many now reside, according to a new report.

The provision of desirable retirement homes would encourage pensioners to sell their current properties, giving young families a greater chance of raising their children in suburban homes with gardens, it says.

The Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) was commissioned by Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health to come up with creative proposals to improve housing for older people.

After visiting ‘model’ retirement communities in European countries including Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden it has called for a local authorities and housebuilders to radically rethink their approach to elderly accommodation.

The best developments all had ‘space, light, accessibility and a shared sense of purpose’, with large communal areas where residents could socialise, it found.

The panel said there was no reason why homes in the UK could not be architecturally interesting and built in desirable neighbourhoods.

Thousands of frail and elderly people are living in care homes that fail to meet the most basic standards, a damning report has revealed.

In the most comprehensive assessment yet of homes in England, new watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that more than 10,000 people are living in squalid conditions and receiving inadequate care.

The CQC has threatened to close 400 homes unless they are improved immediately. It described a further 3,500 homes, where 70,000 people reside, as ‘adequate’, the second-lowest rating.

It criticised councils for sending people to the worst homes, apparently with little regard for their welfare.

Local authorities foot the bill for about half the 440,000 care home residents.