The Government has set out its agenda for older people following the setting up of a ministerial group to look into their concerns by the Prime Minister in the summer.Social Security Minister John Denham has launched the consultation paper ‘Building a Better Britain for Older People’ which sets out the Government’s progress so far and sets out priorities for future work. 

Policy-makers across the public sector will be asked to test future decisions against their likely impact on the Government’s new ‘quality of life’ barometer.The ‘Sustainability Counts’ indicators cover everyday factors that impact on life, such as health, jobs, air quality, and traffic. Controversially, there is no reference for poverty or crime in the consultative list just published.