Independent Age’s priorities for Scotland’s new First Minister
With John Swinney MSP recently taking up his new role as Scotland’s First Minister, our Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Louise Brady, explains our top priorities for the new First Minister and the steps his Government can take to reduce pensioner poverty in Scotland.
1. Developing a Pensioner Poverty strategy for Scotland
Shockingly, across Scotland, 1 in 7 pensioners live in poverty — a total of 150,000 people and 15% of Scotland’s older people. For certain groups, this rate is even higher with 1 in 4 single older women and 1 in 3 older renters living below the poverty line.
While these figures are stark, we know that many more older people who sit just above the official poverty line are also struggling to meet the costs of essentials and are often forced to go without. Many of the older people who reach out to our advisers live on low and fixed incomes and are often reliant on the State Pension alone. In a compassionate and just society, we must do more to tackle poverty in later life.
We need to halt the growing trend of pensioner poverty in Scotland. To do this Independent Age believes that long-term, strategic action is needed. Whilst Scotland has had a welcome Child Poverty Act and strategy for some years, no such plan exists for older people. We want to see this change. It’s time Scotland had a pensioner poverty strategy — with actions to increase social security uptake, reduce the costs experienced by older people and address the housing issues faced by older renters.
2. Progressing the Housing Bill
Over half of older people living in poverty in Scotland rent their home. Older renters, who are often living in low quality homes, have shared with Independent Age their anxiety about rising rents and fear of homelessness.
In February, we published our report “Homing in: How to improve the lives of older renters in Scotland” which highlighted the experiences of older private tenants and included our recommendations on how the Scottish Government can improve the private rented sector.
Given the recent end to the temporary restrictions on rent increases and evictions, Independent Age welcomed the Housing Bill, introduced by the Scottish Government in March. With one third of older private tenants feeling anxious about paying their rent, and a growing number of older people submitting applications for homelessness, we were pleased to see the inclusion of long-term rent controls and homelessness prevention duties within the Bill.
Independent Age is calling on the First Minister to prioritise and deliver the Housing (Scotland) Bill. We look forward to contributing evidence as the Bill makes its way through the Scottish Parliament to help ensure that it protects older tenants living on low incomes.
3. Establishing an Older People’s Commissioner for Scotland
Older people tell us that they don’t think their issues are on the political agenda and our polling found that three quarters of people aged over 65 think older people are badly understood by Government. One older person said: “We’re not heard by the government. They’re not interested in us.”
To make sure older people are heard by decision makers and their issues are acted on, Independent Age is calling for the introduction of an Older People’s Commissioner (OPC) for Scotland.
A Commissioner, who would be independent of government, would help amplify the issues faced by older people by engaging with them and informing decision makers about the changes they need to see. Wales and Northern Ireland already have OPCs who continue to champion the interests of older people and have made real change.
In 2022, the Commissioner in Wales successfully campaigned to improve Pension Credit take-up, increasing the number of new claimants by 26%. In Northern Ireland, the OPC helped establish the Make the Call campaign, connecting older people to advisers who carry out social security entitlement assessments and maximise incomes.
We believe a Commissioner could work with the Scottish Government and Parliament to support efforts to reduce pensioner poverty in Scotland. In March 2024, we outlined how an OPC can help in our report, “Why Scotland needs an OPC”.
With 9 in 10 people aged 65 and over in Scotland supportive of appointing an OPC, we’re calling on the First Minister to establish this role for Scotland, to show older people that their rights and interests matter and that the Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland the best place to grow old.
If you care about the issues older people in poverty face and want to help us make change, you can sign up to our campaign’s network.
To hear more about Independent Age’s policy and public affairs work in Scotland contact Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Louise Brady, at PublicAffairs@independentage.org.
If you’re struggling with money worries, you can find information from Independent Age on our website or you can call our Helpline on 0800 319 6789.
