Councils are failing to prioritise services that help older people live independently

Older people’s ability to live independently is being hindered by Welsh councils’ failure to prioritise many services, a report reveals.

The Wales Audit Office has found that while all councils in Wales valued the role that libraries can make to older people who live independently, less than half recognised the importance of cleaning, shopping, laundry assistance, gardening services and other crucial areas such as healthy eating advice.

Its report ‘Supporting the Independence of Older People: Are Councils Doing Enough?’ also revealed that the number of councils which recognised the value of home safety checks, leisure facilities and other major services varied widely across Wales.

The report stated: '‘This highlights that whilst all councils recognise that supporting older people to maintain their independence is beneficial to both them and their communities, many are not planning or prioritising services to enable this vision.’

The number of adults receiving social care services in Wales has fallen – from 81,140 in 2006-07 to 78,111 in 2013-14.

The report revealed: 'services are now more focused on people with complex needs and councils are generally not prioritising those with moderate or low needs for assistance'.

The document also revealed that councils’ strategies should be more effective in allowing older people to remain in their homes, close to family and friends and in order to continue to contribute to society with the result that and their impact on expensive health and social care services is minimised.

Government policy in Wales has emphasises the importance of effective public engagement with older people. However, the Wales Audit Office’s survey has found that 87 per cent of the older people who responded said that they had not been asked for their views as a user of council services by their council in the last 12 months.

Of those that had been asked for their views, 76 per cent felt there had been no change or improvement in services since they were asked.

One person responding to the survey said: “It would be useful to continue to ask us 'maturing' members of the community what our opinions and needs are in future, particularly as there are increasing numbers of us. Things change and this could be a useful way of monitoring our needs so that those of us who can will be able to continue to be independent, provide others with support and not require additional costly services.”

A lack of data also made it difficult for councils to demonstrate the impact of services that supported older people’s independence and the audit office stated that this ‘this weakens their decision making and scrutiny when setting future priorities’.

The report also highlighted the impact of austerity with councils struggling to maintain spending on services that support older people’s independence.

Council expenditure on practical support services, which includes public transport, community transport and adult learning, has fallen by £3.8m in the last financial year.

The report revealed: '‘The availability of services was limited in most areas and, due to resources pressures and the need to balance budgets, was reducing.

Auditor general Huw Vaughan Thomas' report stated: 'Whilst health and social care are important, services such as education, leisure, housing, transport, community facilities and support to remain in employment all play an essential part in the well-being of older people.

‘Many councils still view older people as vulnerable recipients of social services and councils’ plans do not always take an holistic view of older people’s needs which hinders their effectiveness.’

To view the report visit: http://www.audit.wales/system/files/publications/Independence-Older-People-2015-English.pdf