Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond is backing calls for the introduction of a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing.

Mrs Drummond went to a Parliamentary reception to support setting up the role backed by groups including Independent Age, Centre for Ageing Better, Age UK and National Pensioners Convention.

The groups have argued that the UK’s population is ageing but issues are stopping older people from having a good retirement or playing a positive role in society, including ageism and a lack of job opportunities.

Problems include more than two million people aged 65 or older living in poverty, with many older people also experiencing diminishing health and mobility. However, Age UK research shows that in the spring of 2022, more than 170,000 hours of home care a week were not delivered.

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Mrs Drummond believes a commissioner would help with joined-up policy-making for older people, creating a voice for those over 65 and helping to shape how the country is governed. She said: “How older people interact, spend, help society, when they retire, how they age and what services they need are becoming very big issues in the UK as the population ages.

“I think our society and policy-making has yet to adjust to this new reality. For every person having a carefree retirement, there are other people struggling.

“We have a Children’s Commissioner and Wales has a Veterans Commissioner, for example, so specific sections of the population already have a champion and I think we need long-term planning to help us as the population ages.

“I would like to see the commissioner model extended to older people to help in the years to come with this area of our society and government.”