Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint statement made by various organisations on 21 March which called for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing for England; and what plans they have to meet with representatives of the relevant organisations.

We have no current plans to make a specific assessment as the needs of older people and healthy ageing are covered by the NHS Health Check and an ambitious prevention agenda to reduce individuals’ risk of ill health later in life.

We continue to engage a wide range of organisations on healthy ageing and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is taking targeted actions to tackle the most common preventable diseases, improving access and uptake of prevention services, and embedding prevention across health and care. For example, encouraging people in mid-life to stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their diet to help reduce the risk of developing dementia, disability and frailty in later life.

Finally, the Government recently announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy which will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England: cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions. An interim report will be published in the summer.