What the new Government means for us

As David Cameron and Nick Clegg's new coalition government begins its historic new term, Age UK looks at what the proposed new policies mean for us.

We can be broadly positive about what the new Government means for us. Several of Age UK’s key election calls have been adopted in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat joint programme announced last week. 

• The parties have pledged to re-link the basic state pension to earnings from April next year.  This re-linking includes a ‘Triple Guarantee’ that pensions will rise annually in line with the highest of prices, earnings or 2.5%.
• They have agreed to “phase out” the Default Retirement Age (DRA). Before the election, the Liberal Democrats had planned to scrap it entirely, while the Conservatives promised to look at how the DRA might be abolished. Although the commitment to end the discriminatory DRA is good news for older workers, we are waiting to see exactly when and how it will be phased out.
• They have also jointly promised that NHS funding should increase in real terms (i.e. above inflation) every year of the new parliament. We welcome this increase in funding and hope that the additional budget is directed towards services for people in later life.

During the election, lots of our supporters asked parliamentary candidates whether they would support our key calls. While there has been good news on the default retirement age and re-linking pensions to earnings, we will continue to lobby the new Government for other changes needed to make later life healthier and more secure.

We asked all parties before the election for assurances that social care funding would be protected from Government cuts and will campaign to have social care included in safeguards for health-related spending. 

We will continue to call on the new Government to commit to paying benefits automatically, to make sure that nobody misses out on the benefits that they’re entitled to. 

Finally, we want to see an end to the scandal of malnutrition in hospitals; ensuring that the NHS treats us all with dignity and respect.