Services to Over-60s

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 18 September 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:37, 18 September 2019

I can certainly give you that reassurance. Social care is one area that is particularly important to older people, and that is one of our top cross-Government priority areas. As part of my considerations for the budget, I undertook a series of visits over the summer, and a couple of them will be of particular interest. The first one was an integrated care fund project in Cardiff, which is there to support older people, and then, a second visit was to the Maes Arthur housing development in Aberystwyth, and that's a social housing development that is helping older people to downsize to properties that they find more manageable and then also freeing up properties with larger numbers of bedrooms for families to be able to take as well. So, those are a couple of the visits that I took that have a specific relevance to older people. 

In terms of the free swimming initiative, of course, there's a question to the Deputy Minister later on this afternoon in terms of being able to explore that further, but it is important to recognise that there will still be a free swimming offer for both young people and the over-60s, delivered by local authorities, based on local authorities' understanding of their communities, with a focus on providing opportunities for young people especially in disadvantaged communities. But over-60s will also remain a target audience, and it's important that local authorities find the best way in order to engage with that target audience to understand how free swimming can best meet those needs.

And on the issue of the free bus pass, I know that there's been an opportunity for you to discuss your concerns there with the Minister for Economy and Transport, and I'm sure those discussions will be ongoing, because, of course, that's part of a piece of legislation that will be subject to the full scrutiny process within the Assembly.