Wales appoints Commissioner for older people
Wales’ First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, has appointed Ruth Marks MBE as the first Commissioner for Older People in Wales. The Commissioner will be a champion for older people, in the same way that the Children’s Commissioner has been for children and young people.
The commitment to establish a Commissioner for Older People in Wales was included in the Labour Manifesto for the 2003 Assembly Elections (similar to a promise made by the incoming Rudd Labor Government).
Such an appointment was also recommended by the Advisory Group
on a Strategy for Older People in Wales, which was launched in 2003 and provides a framework for all public bodies in Wales to plan for an ageing society and to improve services to older people.
Role of the Commissioner
The role of the Commissioner is to ensure that the interests of older people in Wales, who are aged 60 or more, are safeguarded and promoted. The Commissioner, as an ambassador and authority on older people’s issues, will speak up on behalf of older people, who deserve a stronger voice about the services they receive and the needs they have.
The Commissioner will be a source of information, advocacy and support for older people in Wales and their representatives. As well as looking at the interests of older people as a whole, she will also be able to look at:
· the cases of individual older people in certain circumstances, such as where the case raises issues that may have a wider impact on older people
· the effect that public bodies, such as the Assembly Government, Local Government, and the NHS, have on older people, and may publish reports, making recommendations for change
· the providers of regulated services across Wales, issuing guidance on best practice to ensure that they safeguard and promote the interests of older people
The Commissioner may also help individuals to make a complaint about the services provided.
The Commissioner will be able to look at the way in which a local authority, or health body, implements the policies and procedures that it has put in place for dealing with elder abuse. If these were not being carried out effectively, she could hold authorities to account.
Perhaps most importantly, the Commissioner will work to ensure that older people themselves can influence the way in which important public services are managed and delivered in Wales.
The Commissioner has been appointed for a term of four years, renewable once.
