§ Lord Dholakiaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What the Department for Work and Pensions is spending on research on older people; and whether the department has undertaken specific research on black and ethnic minority elderly people. [HL5230]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)The total spend by the department on current— that is, ongoing— social research projects on older people is £1.4 million. This includes research about issues related to those aged over 50.
In addition, the total amount to be spent on social research projects on older people that are agreed by Ministers and waiting to be commissioned is estimated to be £665,000.
The department has also committed a total of £975,000 between 2000–05 on the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a large scale survey of people aged 50 plus, funded jointly with other government departments.
In December, the department will be publishing findings from a research project called delivering services and benefits to black and minority ethnic older people. This is a large-scale qualitative study examining the barriers to take-up of benefits and service delivery preferences among older people from different black and minority ethnic groups. The department is developing a series of actions to be taken forward that builds on the findings from this research.