A caring Hackney

Everyone in our borough will benefit from our Council taking a holistic approach to ageing and living well. If Hackney Council does more to support carers and people who need care, and to support people before they qualify for adult social care, Hackney can become more people friendly, irrespective of age and capacities. 

Hackney has over 19,000 unpaid adult social carers – the third highest proportion of unpaid carers in inner London providing 50+ hours of care per week, including 2,600 carers aged under 24. Care is a cross-generational issue with older people caring for people of all ages, and younger people caring for young, middle-aged and older people. Nearly half of Hackney’s paid adult social care workforce are employed on zero-hour contracts. 

Austerity and the cost-of-living crisis have had a profound impact on peoples’ health and wellbeing. Rising costs for food and heating, combined with pressures on public services, have left many residents struggling. Older people and people living with health challenges are particularly badly affected. The measures people must take to combat the cost-of-living crisis can impinge on their fundamental rights to dignity, independence, participation and wellbeing.

Ageism and Ableism also damage the wellbeing of older people and people living with specific health needs. These deteriorate their physical and mental health, undermining their confidence that they can be independent and valued members of society. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 6.3 million cases of depression globally are attributable to Ageism which is a leading cause of disability. We will tackle this through vigilance, education and zero tolerance of discrimination, and by putting ageing and living well at the heart of Hackney’s Council. 

Our socialist vision for older people and people living with health challenges

We believe that care and security across the life course are fundamental human rights and it is the responsibility of the Council to cherish and protect those rights. Central to our vision is recognising that ageing and living well requires the creation of an environment that builds inclusive wellbeing across Hackney by fostering participation, voice and intergenerational solidarity. Ageing and living well is a joint enterprise produced by receivers of care, paid and unpaid carers, the community and the Council. 

In our policies on Community Wealth Building, we explain how we will devolve power to residents to form Community Hubs across Hackney. These Hubs will be welcoming spaces where all residents, irrespective of age and needs, can meet, gather, share meals, and access support and advice. They will strengthen neighbourhood networks and reduce the isolation that too many older people, people living with health challenges and carers experience.

What we’ll do if we run the council with the Greens after May

Our priority is to create a new Ageing and Living Well Strategy shaped directly by older residents, people living with health challenges and people in receipt of care, who will monitor and develop it as a live ongoing plan of action. This will be a social contract and it will support our combined efforts with other institutions and agencies involved in adult social care. It will feed into all Council work in order to foster wellbeing and intergenerational solidarity.

In addition, we will:

• Create more accessible individual, locally contactable Council services.
• Ensure that assessments for care and remediation of housing are quickly undertaken and acted upon, prioritising older people and people living with health challenges in our commitments to improved housing in Hackney.
• Develop a strategy for increasing participation in Hackney’s social life, removing obstacles such as road crossings and public toilet provision.
• Expand the Council team that supports residents’ take-up of Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and other financial support. Millions of pounds go unclaimed each year.
• Create intergenerational support initiatives located in Community Hubs, where young volunteers can help older residents navigate online advice, information and services. 
• Bring back in-person and telephone contact in clinics, libraries and Council offices so that older residents and people with specific needs do not feel excluded from services critical to their health and wellbeing. 
• Establish dementia clinics in our community hubs where carers will receive the support of trained volunteers.
• Defend the Freedom Pass as critical to older people’s rights to social participation and wellbeing, against attacks on it as a potential cost saving.

The mental health of older people, people living with health challenges and carers is seriously neglected. NHS Talking Therapies services do not reflect the diversity of our communities. We will call for an urgent review of local Talking Therapies contracts so that mental health support includes culturally-informed, community-based and holistic therapeutic approaches. 

We will create a Caring Well Strategy to ensure that all carers, unpaid and paid, get the recognition and support that their indispensable contribution deserves. Working with carers, we will create and promote a carer’s package and keep it permanently under review with regard to: carers’ allowances, pension protection, respite care, paid care leave and right to flexible working. Carers will be treated as expert partners in this.

To integrate the Ageing and Living Well Strategy and the Caring Well Strategy in Council business we plan to create the role of an Older Person and Carer Adviser to the Mayor, held not by a councillor but by a member of Hackney’s older community. This Adviser will help ensure that Hackney policies reflect the lived experiences of older residents, people living with health challenges, and carers.