To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures her Department is taking to reduce social care assessment waiting lists for elderly carers seeking long-term planning and emergency fallback provision for adult disabled dependents with complex needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures her Department is taking to reduce social care assessment waiting lists for elderly carers seeking long-term planning and emergency fallback provision for adult disabled dependents with complex needs.

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for the thoughtful way in which he introduced this important report. I declare my own interests as chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research. This is not the first report of a Select...

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for the thoughtful way in which he introduced this important report. I declare my own interests as chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research. This is not the first report of a Select...

My Lords, ageing problems begin during childhood and are incubated by poor government policies. A June 2026 paper in Nature Human Behaviour noted that consequences of poverty, inequality and discrimination accelerate biological ageing from a very young age. Adults enduring childhood economic deprivation age at a significantly accelerated biological pace,...

My Lords, ageing problems begin during childhood and are incubated by poor government policies. A June 2026 paper in Nature Human Behaviour noted that consequences of poverty, inequality and discrimination accelerate biological ageing from a very young age. Adults enduring childhood economic deprivation age at a significantly accelerated biological pace,...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Economic Affairs Committee for this report. It reminds us that an ageing society is not simply about older people, it is about how we structure our whole lives and how that may need to change in future. I will touch on two points;...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Economic Affairs Committee for this report. It reminds us that an ageing society is not simply about older people, it is about how we structure our whole lives and how that may need to change in future. I will touch on two points;...

My Lords, I congratulate the committee on some first-rate analysis. An ageing population has been long foreseen and long debated. Very occasionally, Governments have taken action. I recall working on the reforms to SERPS introduced by my noble friend Lord Fowler in the 1980s. But for the most part, Governments...

My Lords, I congratulate the committee on some first-rate analysis. An ageing population has been long foreseen and long debated. Very occasionally, Governments have taken action. I recall working on the reforms to SERPS introduced by my noble friend Lord Fowler in the 1980s. But for the most part, Governments...

My Lords, I congratulate the Economic Affairs Committee on its excellent report. One passage particularly struck me: paragraph 40, where, in discussing the implications of an ageing society, Richard Hughes of the OBR highlighted the pressures that demographic change will place on the public finances.

Those pressures are real, and they...

My Lords, I congratulate the Economic Affairs Committee on its excellent report. One passage particularly struck me: paragraph 40, where, in discussing the implications of an ageing society, Richard Hughes of the OBR highlighted the pressures that demographic change will place on the public finances.

Those pressures are real, and they...

My Lords, a strong theme in this excellent report is the importance of people aged over 50 remaining in the workforce—the other NEETs—and the challenge in the report is clear. Perhaps I can make the Minister one specific Budget representation on this issue. At the moment, people with pension savings...

My Lords, a strong theme in this excellent report is the importance of people aged over 50 remaining in the workforce—the other NEETs—and the challenge in the report is clear. Perhaps I can make the Minister one specific Budget representation on this issue. At the moment, people with pension savings...

My Lords, my comments on this excellent report concern a missing ingredient and omission from it: the role played by housing policies in preparation for demographic change. I am not seeking to make the case for private and public investment in more manageable, accessible, right-sizer accommodation that enhances health and...

My Lords, my comments on this excellent report concern a missing ingredient and omission from it: the role played by housing policies in preparation for demographic change. I am not seeking to make the case for private and public investment in more manageable, accessible, right-sizer accommodation that enhances health and...

My Lords, one of the challenges of speaking so late in the debate is that many brilliant points that you thought you might cover have already been made, and the noble Lord, Lord Best, just made one of them. It is one of my biggest concerns about the increasing costs...

My Lords, one of the challenges of speaking so late in the debate is that many brilliant points that you thought you might cover have already been made, and the noble Lord, Lord Best, just made one of them. It is one of my biggest concerns about the increasing costs...

My Lords, earlier this week, I was pondering on which aspect of this most impressive report on ageing I might usefully make a small contribution. As a relatively new chair of the SCIE—the Social Care Institute for Excellence—it seemed important to make the links between the new enthusiasm from our...

My Lords, earlier this week, I was pondering on which aspect of this most impressive report on ageing I might usefully make a small contribution. As a relatively new chair of the SCIE—the Social Care Institute for Excellence—it seemed important to make the links between the new enthusiasm from our...

My Lords, people aged over 85 are the fastest-growing population segment, but we are also having far fewer children. This is a problem, as the excellent report highlighted. The committee doubts that financial incentives can reverse falls in fertility. I do not entirely agree. Since the 1950s, successive French Governments...

My Lords, people aged over 85 are the fastest-growing population segment, but we are also having far fewer children. This is a problem, as the excellent report highlighted. The committee doubts that financial incentives can reverse falls in fertility. I do not entirely agree. Since the 1950s, successive French Governments...

My Lords, I commend the Economic Affairs Committee for producing this report and thank the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for his comprehensive introduction.

The committee has offered a sobering assessment of our inadequate preparedness for an ageing society, and I fully endorse the recommendations of the report, particularly the emphasis on...

My Lords, I commend the Economic Affairs Committee for producing this report and thank the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for his comprehensive introduction.

The committee has offered a sobering assessment of our inadequate preparedness for an ageing society, and I fully endorse the recommendations of the report, particularly the emphasis on...

My Lords, I join other noble Lords on the committee in thanking our recently departed chair, the noble Lord, Lord Wood, who was an excellent chair, as we have all agreed. I have only one tiny criticism about his chairmanship and his drafting of this report, and I speak as...

My Lords, I join other noble Lords on the committee in thanking our recently departed chair, the noble Lord, Lord Wood, who was an excellent chair, as we have all agreed. I have only one tiny criticism about his chairmanship and his drafting of this report, and I speak as...

My Lords, this is a valuable and timely report. It continues the tradition of high-quality reports from the Economic Affairs Committee, and I join the tributes to the noble Lord, Lord Wood of Anfield, in his role as chair, to the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for his clear and compelling...

My Lords, this is a valuable and timely report. It continues the tradition of high-quality reports from the Economic Affairs Committee, and I join the tributes to the noble Lord, Lord Wood of Anfield, in his role as chair, to the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for his clear and compelling...

My Lords, I begin by echoing the welcome of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and others for the report. I congratulate the noble Lords, Lord Liddle and Lord Wood of Anfield, on bringing it to the House today. I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to what has been...

My Lords, I begin by echoing the welcome of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, and others for the report. I congratulate the noble Lords, Lord Liddle and Lord Wood of Anfield, on bringing it to the House today. I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to what has been...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate, which has thrown up an enormous range of new ideas and thoughts that various committees of the House might take up. I was going to discuss with our clerk how we can summarise all the issues that...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate, which has thrown up an enormous range of new ideas and thoughts that various committees of the House might take up. I was going to discuss with our clerk how we can summarise all the issues that...

Lords motion to take note of the second report of the Economic Affairs Committee on Preparing for an Ageing Society (HL 236 2024-26). Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the second report of the Economic Affairs Committee on Preparing for an Ageing Society (HL 236 2024-26). Agreed to on question.

My Lords, it is a great privilege and pleasure to introduce this report on behalf of the Economic Affairs Select Committee of the House in place of our former chair, my noble friend Lord Wood of Anfield. He has, as the Salvationists would say in the 19th century on the...

My Lords, it is a great privilege and pleasure to introduce this report on behalf of the Economic Affairs Select Committee of the House in place of our former chair, my noble friend Lord Wood of Anfield. He has, as the Salvationists would say in the 19th century on the...

My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Wood, for his outstanding chairmanship. I have already paid tribute to him at Question Time, and I do so very happily again today, because his job was brilliantly done. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Liddle,...

My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Wood, for his outstanding chairmanship. I have already paid tribute to him at Question Time, and I do so very happily again today, because his job was brilliantly done. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Liddle,...

My Lords, I would also like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for outlining the conclusions of the committee’s report so well, and thank the noble Lord, Lord Wood of Anfield, for chairing the committee during this investigation. He has now gone on to greater things and I hope...

My Lords, I would also like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for outlining the conclusions of the committee’s report so well, and thank the noble Lord, Lord Wood of Anfield, for chairing the committee during this investigation. He has now gone on to greater things and I hope...