2017 MICRA Annual Public Lecture

Ready for Ageing Now?

Lord Geoffrey Filkin CBE, Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better

From MICRA and the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub

In 2013, the House of Lords Select Committee report Ready for Ageing stated that we were “woefully underprepared” for our longer lives and our growing older population. Geoffrey Filkin, who proposed and chaired the Committee, now asks what has changed four years on?

This lecture will argue that whilst we are more aware that we have an ageing society there has been a weak collective response by government. Whilst some significant changes have begun around pensions and working longer, many individuals are unaware how long they will live and what they might do to have a better later life. Critically, despite the forecast major funding crisis in both health and social care, the need to transform both systems remains. So why has government at all levels made such a weak response, and what needs to be done to promote more action and change by society, government and individuals? How might our welfare system need to develop to ensure good support for our older population with costs and benefits fairly shared?