Programme

Plenary session

Chair’s welcome                                                              Paul Lewis, Presenter, Money Box

Tomorrow's vision for later life
Tom Wright CBE, Group Chief Executive, Age UK

Preparing for an ageing society                                 
Professor Alan Walker 
Professor of Social Policy & Social Gerontology                   
Director of the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme                                      
The University of Sheffield

Panel discussion: The economics of ageing 
Jo Ann Jenkins, President, AARP Foundation
Michelle Mitchell, Director General, Age UK
David Brown, Partner, PwC

Parallel plenary sessions
Delegates can select one of three parallel plenary sessions:

State Pension reform: meeting the needs of current and future pensions
This session will set out the latest proposals for State Pension reform for future pensioners and options for current pensioners - and the impact they will have. Will reforms for future pensioners succeed in delivering a fairer, simpler system? Is it right to exclude current pensioners from these reforms? If not, how could changes be made in a way that is affordable? What are the best ways to tackle pensioner poverty and improve the financial position of those with the lowest pensions? 

Chair: Paul Cann, Chief Executive, Age UK Oxfordshire
Chris Curry, Research Director, Pensions Policy Institute
Professor Jay Ginn, Visiting Professor, Institute of Gerontology, King's College London
Katie Oldfield, Director, IFF Research

Integrating health and social care
Integrated care is often seen as the holy grail of health and social care reform. Achieving it is complex and substantially impeded by a fundamental division between these two sets of services and the difficulties in knowing exactly what people have a right to access. Starting with the objective of making care seamless for patients and the outcomes better, how can integration be achieved and is it in fact the only solution?

Chair: Jim McManus, Joint Director of Public Health, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham PCT's
Judith Smith, Head of Policy, Nuffield Trust
Dr Daniel Poulter MP, Member of the Health Select Committee

Can the financial services industry deliver for older people? The Dilnot report proposed capping the amount an individual might have to pay for care, in order to make it clear how much people would have to provide from their own resources. What is the role of the financial services industry in helping people to prepare for later life?

Chair: Tom Wright CBE, Group Chief Executive, Age UK
Otto Thoresen, Director General, Association of British Insurers
Julia Unwin CBE, Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree Foundation 
Martin Wheatley, Managing Director, Consumer and Markets Business Unit, FInancial Services Authority

Discussion seminars
Delegates can select one of eight discussion seminars

The DIY society
Economic hard times are accelerating social change, and particularly the expectation that consumers and citizens should ‘self-serve’, by going online, managing their own budgets, and (even) enforcing consumer protection. This is often categorised as ‘empowerment’. How can older people navigate this increasingly DIY society and what conditions are required for true ‘empowerment’?

Chair: Jane Vass, Head of Public Policy, Age UK
Francis McGee, External Affairs Manager, Money Advice Services
Linda Lennard, Visiting Fellow, Centre for Consumers and Essential Services, University of Leicester

Inclusive design
For an ageing population, designing goods and services to meet the needs of a wide range of customers makes sense. What are the challenges facing business in thinking this way, and what needs to be done to ensure that products are inclusively designed?

Chair: Sandra Williams, Advocacy & Appointeeship Manager, Age UK Coventry
Philippa Aldrich, Founder, The Future Perfect Company
Professor Jeremy Myerson, Director, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art   
Tony Noakes, Operations Director, Switchover Help Scheme

Can work, will work: ensuring fairer recruitment
Ageism in recruitment is one of the most common barriers to work experienced by older jobseekers. It can take many forms, ranging from the overt to the subtle, and even the subconscious. Many employers are only prepared to see the negative stereotypes associated with older workers, and this seminar will look at what forms this can take and what can be done about it. 

Chair: Joyce Colston, Age Concern Warwickshire
Jo Ann Jenkins, Executive Vice President, AARP and President, AARP Foundation
Gillian Econopouly, Head of Public Policy, Recruitment and Employment Confederation 
Pamela Meadows, Visiting Fellow, National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Do energy markets work for older consumers?
An estimated 3million people aged 60+ are living in fuel poverty. With energy prices continuing to rise, what can be done to ensure that people can afford to keep warm, and how can the UK balance the need to invest with the need to keep prices down?

Chair: Gretel Jones, Policy Adviser - Consumer Markets, Age UK
Lawrence Slade,  Chief Operating Officer, Energy Retail Association 
Alun Rees, Policy and External Relations Manager, Energy Retail Association

Not in my backyard – planning and older people’s housing
Will reform of the planning system increase the supply of affordable housing for older people? The Government has now consulted on a major reform of planning as part of its National Planning Policy Framework. Developers argue that despite reform it will still be difficult to obtain planning permission for retirement housing. Why is this and how can we address the problem?

Chair: Barrie Thompson, Panel member, Age UK Inquiry into Sheltered and Retirement Housing
Maria Brenton, Project Manager, Older Women's Co - Housing Project
Kate Henderson, CEO, Town and Country Planning Association
Paul Teverson, Head of Public Affairs, McCarthy and Stone

Organising for change: the Age Action Alliance
The Age Action Alliance is a partnership of organisations drawn from the civil society and the public and private sectors. This seminar will draw on the example of the Age Action Alliance to explore how working together can result in demonstrable progress and change.

Chair: Michelle Mitchell, Director General, Age UK
Andrew Bonser, Director of Public Policy, Alliance Boots
Helen Dimmock, Head of Age Action Alliance, Department for Work and Pensions

Opportunities for social action for later life
Many older people already enjoy playing an active role in their community; whether they are involved in an older people’s forum challenging council strategies or someone participating in a telephone befriending service. This seminar will discuss the opportunities for older people to shape the places they live in and the services they rely on.

Chair: Frances McCabe, Chair, Age UK Brighton and Hove 
Kathleen Carter, Winner of the 2011 'Take Action Award'
Sue Warr, Project Manager, Dorset Partnership for Older People Programme, Dorset County Council

Tackling malnutrition: how big is the task?
The ability to eat and sustain yourself is a basic human need, yet the reasons over one million older people in the UK cannot always achieve it are numerous and sometimes complex. This session will explore some of these reasons as well as outlining the extent of the problem. We also aim to examine the solutions to what is a hidden and devastating public health issue.

Chair: Caroline Abrahams, Director of External Affairs, Age UK
Sue Hawkins, Care Catering Services Manager, Dorset County Council
Dr Trevor Smith, Consultant Gastroenterologist, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust
Dr Lisa Wilson, Principal Researcher, International Longevity Centre - UK

Afternoon plenary session

Dignity in care
Dianne Jeffrey CBE DL, Chairman, Age UK Co-chair, Dignity Commission
Denise Llewellyn, Executive Director of Nursing, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Wales  
Professor Julienne Meyer, Professor of Nursing, Care for Older Adult and Executive Director of My Home Life Programme (MHL)

Chair's closing remarks

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