§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the progress his Department have made in respect of the Third Age Service. [149788]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Department for Work and Pensions is in the early stages of developing a Third Age Service which is seen as a network of service providers providing improved access to a range of more integrated services. In this respect, we are working with partners, in particular the Partnerships Against Poverty Group and the Third Age Working Group which DWP chair and which include representatives from Age Concern, Help the Aged, Better Government for Older people and other key stakeholders.
We have already made progress in developing the main aspects of a third age service e.g. Joint Financial Assessment & Benefit Teams with local authorities. Experience and research evidence indicate that this is the right approach to integrated services. Already, nine joint teams are operational and plans are in place to roll out nationally over the next two years.
This, together with the work we are doing to enable partner organisations to take benefit claims and verify evidence (on which guidance has been issued), and the work on the Partnership Fund (which will be published in spring this year) shows that we are already delivering on the Government's Manifesto commitment which was 'to build on Care Direct to provide integration of health, housing, benefits and social care for older people'. We await the Lessons Learned report on Care Direct pilots (April 2004) before developing further building blocks.