§ John RobertsonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to tackle social exclusion among pensioners. [128134]
§ Yvette CooperThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working across Government to tackle pensioner poverty and social exclusion. Since 1997, our strategy for tackling poverty has been to target our help on the poorest pensioners through the minimum income guarantee, the new pension credit and winter fuel payments. The poorest third of pensioners households will have gained over £1,600 a year in real terms.
The Social Exclusion Unit is taking forward a programme of work looking at impacts and trends in social exclusion. This will develop a clearer understanding of how Government policies work together to tackle social exclusion for particular groups, including older people. The programme of work includes a review of the evidence about the impact of policies on social exclusion among older people
The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit aims to ensure that older people benefit from regeneration initiatives. The work of Local Strategic Partnerships should be informed by the views of all local groups, including older people. We are making £36 million available through the Community Empowerment Fund to make sure that under-rep resented groups are better able to have their voices heard at the local level.
Fear of crime can itself be a cause of social exclusion, particularly among some older people. Neighbourhood Warden Schemes are showing early signs of reducing crime and the fear of crime across some of the most deprived neighbourhoods.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises that it needs to know more about those older people who live within the most deprived areas. Following the recent consultation on updating the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, we will be creating an index of income deprivation among older people.
The "Supporting People" programme offers vulnerable members of the community, including older people, the opportunity to improve their quality of life through greater independence, which can help to combat social exclusion. Through this programme we are promoting high quality, strategically planned housing-related sup port services that will enable older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible.