Report of the Director of Public Health and the Age Friendly Manchester Programme Lead.

The new Age Friendly Strategy Manchester: A City for Life 2023–28 Strategy builds on previous progress, provides a series of responses to the ongoing impact felt by some older people to the pandemic and the struggles faced by the cost-of-living crisis for many people aged over 50. It outlines a series of priorities and commitments to drive better outcomes so that more people can age well in place with increased financial security.

The committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health and the Age Friendly Manchester Programme Lead which described how the new Age Friendly Strategy Manchester: A City for Life 2023– 28 built on previous progress, provided a series of responses to the ongoing impact felt by some older people to the pandemic and the struggles faced by the cost-of-living crisis for many people aged over 50 and outlined a series of priorities and commitments to drive better outcomes.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Providing an introduction and background;
• Key statistics around age, population, life expectancy and unemployment amongst over 50s;
• How the refreshed Strategy was developed;
• How the refreshed Strategy aligned with the Council’s priorities and other key strategies;
• The themes of the refreshed Strategy:
  • Being heard and age equity;
  • Age friendly neighbourhoods where we can all age in peace;
  • Age friendly services which will support us to age well; and
  • Work and money
• An initial 18-month delivery plan was being developed; and
• How progress would be monitored.

Key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• Welcoming the refresh;
• Expressing concern that not all complexities and intersectionalities experienced by older people were reflected in the report;
• The different experiences and challenges faced by 50-year-olds and 80-year-olds;
• The need for more flexibility with regards to rightsizing;
• That the impact on Age Friendly should be included in all committee reports;
• The experiences of older people in the LGBTQ+ community;
• Requesting further information on the delivery plan;
• Requesting background information on the disproportionate effects of age on different groups;
• Querying what activities and services were provided for older people in each ward;
• How the work of the Strategy linked with the Council’s Highways service to improve existing highways, public spaces and access;
• What was being done to help older people with the cost-of-living crisis;
• Whether all libraries were accessible by bus;
• Whether increased public toilet provisions would be included in the delivery plan; and
• Requesting further information on the findings of the research undertaken by Manchester University in collaboration with Age Friendly Manchester on the impacts of the pandemic on older people living in areas of multiple deprivation.

The Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester explained that the refreshed Strategy provided the vision for the next five years with four key themes. He stated that extensive consultation with older people had been undertaken and built on the progress made over the past 20 years. He stated that the Strategy provided practical responses to the lived experience of older people, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care stated that communities were defined by their older people and thanked officers for their work on this and residents for their involvement and engagement. He also wished to place on record his thanks to former Councillor Eddy Newman who had driven this work in his former role as Lead Member for Age Friendly Manchester.

The Chair of the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board explained that she had been involved in the Board for 18 years and highlighted the work undertaken by the Council and the Board. She noted that there was more work to be done, particularly around employment, access and the cost-of-living crisis.

The Lead Member for Age Friendly Manchester highlighted Manchester’s Age Friendly approach and that this work was ongoing, highly consultative among a range of groups, and would be continuously developed. 

In response to a point raised regarding the need to reflect the different experiences between age groups, the Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester acknowledged the different experiences felt by a 50-year-old and an 80-year-old. He stated that there were 3 different age categories, for those up to state pension age, for 66- to 80-year-olds and for over 80s. He stated that the delivery plan included different responses to different age ranges and circumstances. He stated that highlights of the delivery plan could be shared with the committee once developed.

The Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester acknowledged difficulties in finding suitable housing provisions for older people but explained that the approach of Age Friendly Manchester was to provide a range of options to suit everyone, noting that social care was not suitable for all older people. Members were advised that the Council was hoping to develop an LGBT-affirmative extra-care scheme in Whalley Range. He also explained that the Council currently works with housing providers to have dynamic and supportive conversations with tenants to best meet their needs.

Further to this, members were informed that the Council worked with Pride in Ageing, which was a foundation-led initiative of LGBTQ+ people working in Manchester to share and promote their lived experiences and to inform foundations such as Pride in Practice. The Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester stated that the Council was examining how this work could also be shared within the care sector and that a representative of Pride in Ageing was included in the membership of the Older People’s Board.

In response to a recommendation to include an Age Friendly Impact Assessment in all committee reports, the Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester stated that this was something he and his team were eager to implement and would provide value to reports. It was highlighted that age was a protected characteristic which was included in the overall Equality Impact Assessment.

The Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester explained that work was ongoing to develop the delivery plan with key partners. It was anticipated that a final draft would be available in September for launch in autumn and this could be provided to the committee.

Members were informed that the State of Ageing report would provide detail on the breadths of experiences of older people and would provide a baseline for monitoring progress over the Strategy’s lifespan.

In response to a member’s query on work with the Highways service, the Programme Lead - Age Friendly Manchester stated that there were examples of success in changing bus routes as a result of lobbying, for example the rerouting of a bus service in Old Moat and Fallowfield to improve access for residents. He acknowledged that this was challenging to do on a wider scale, but it was hoped that the greater powers over public transport awarded by the devolution trailblazer for Greater Manchester would enable the GM Ageing Hub to have greater influence in shaping such decisions and structural changes to bus routes.

It was stated that information on cost-of-living support needed to be clear and accessible to older people. The Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester emphasised that a ‘digital by default’ approach was not encouraged, and that face-to-face dialogue and printed information was available. He stated that libraries were vital in providing these services and a free, biannual newsletter would be relaunched and available from libraries, supermarkets and community centres to share information on the cost-of-living support available.

Members were advised that all libraries within Manchester were of an Age Friendly service standard. 

In response to a query regarding whether increased public toilet provisions would be included in the delivery plan, the Programme Lead – Age Friendly Manchester explained that there were opportunities to improve provisions through developments and the use of Equality Impact Assessments. He advised of the ‘Take a Seat’ campaign, which worked with cafes and other facilities to provide free access to toilets and acknowledged that this campaign needed to be rolled out into more neighbourhoods.

The committee was informed that the delivery plan was being developed by those involved in its implementation and that most of these were external partners.

In summarising, the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care stated that he wanted to raise the work of Age Friendly further up the political agenda. He explained that the Strategy would be considered by the Senior Management Team, the Executive Strategy Group and Full Council and thanked the committee for their comments.

The Chair thanked the Executive Member and officers for their attendance and thanked the Chair of the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board for her 17 years’ service to the Board.

Decision:

That the committee

1. notes the report;
2. requests that the delivery plan be provided to a future meeting for consideration; and
3. recommends that Age Friendly be promoted in the Equality Impact Assessments of all committee reports.