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3.0 Improving Opportunities and Removing Barriers

We want to see a Scotland where everyone contributes to Scottish society, and where people have a voice in decisions made about them. We value the contribution made by older Scots to the business, public and voluntary sectors, and recognise the importance of skills and values passed from one generation to the next. Scotland is a better place when different generations relate to and respond to one another.

Older people want the opportunity to continue to be involved in all areas of life - and the next generation of older people are likely to want to be even more engaged. It follows that, whether in sport and leisure activity, arts and culture, lifelong learning, or using information technology and the internet, age should not be a barrier to participation. We want to see a Scotland where people are encouraged to participate in learning activities, both vocational and for personal development. People should have the chance to learn, irrespective of their background or current personal circumstances. In the long run, we want to see a greater proportion of 50+ adults having up-to-date and relevant skills and qualifications, staying in employment for longer, and therefore being less likely to live in poverty in old age.

Older people play an important role as consumers, stimulating economic growth and improving their quality of life. We want to support and encourage this role, recognising that this is a contribution that everyone, regardless of personal circumstances, makes to Scottish life and communities. Older people also represent a significant potential market and there is evidence that this is not yet fully recognised by all sectors, with opportunities missed as a result.

What we heard from the consultation

Responses to the consultation identified key contributions as follows:

• volunteering in a range of settings;
• sharing their knowledge, experience and skills with others;
• undertaking caring roles for a range of family members including partners and grandchildren, and for others such as neighbours and friends;
• contributing to the economy through employment, and as tax-payers and consumers.

Another key theme which emerged under the area of contribution was the importance of encouraging and improving inter-generational relationships with an emphasis on fostering respect and improving understanding between older and younger generations.

It must be recognised however, that there can be challenges and barriers in certain areas that prevent older people from making as full a contribution as they are able to. We want to ensure that older people can continue to lead fulfilling lives and we want to work with others to ensure that barriers are identified and removed. We explore below the substantial and diverse contribution that older people can and do make to Scottish society; discussing the challenges and barriers that can exist in some areas and the actions that we are already taking to overcome these. These discussions are followed by consideration of some future challenges for key sectors in planning and preparing for an ageing population in the longer term.

Working Lives

"This new generation of ageing boomers seems poised to swap that old dream of the freedom from work for a new one built around the freedom to work - in new ways, on new terms, to new ends." Marc Freedman, Washington Post, February 6, 2005.

We want to see a Scotland where age is not used to define or make assumptions about the role, value or potential of an individual. This includes ensuring that people aged over 50 are enabled to work for as long as they want or need to, and in the ways that suit them best. Retaining people who wish to remain longer in the workforce will bring benefits for individuals, families, communities, employers and the economy. People who are forced out of work early report isolation and loss of self esteem, while retaining people in the workplace for longer helps to minimise poverty in later life. Often people leave work because of a lack of options that allow them to fit in work around caring responsibilities or variable health; and sometimes their skills are not up to date, or the opportunities to improve them limited or unsuitable. It follows that retaining people in the workforce until they choose to retire will require flexible approaches to employment, training and retirement and above all the recognition that it is the ability to do the job or to re-skill that matters; not chronological age.

Responses to the consultation revealed a range of issues relating to employment and working in later life, notably:

• Age discrimination in the workplace was seen as a barrier to continuing to work;
• There was a need to encourage employers to adopt different attitudes towards recruiting and retaining older workers;
• More flexible working arrangements would enable more people to remain in employment;
• Lack of flexibility around retirement ages was a barrier to continuing employment.

In addition, a number of factors can be identified which particularly disadvantage older women in the labour market and subsequently impact on pensioner income:

• Higher incidence of part time working, with lower hourly earnings, progression, terms and conditions;
• Broken career patterns due to more caring responsibilities;
• Lower life-time earnings;
• Concentration in low paid sectors of the economy.

Flexible Working Arrangements

Lack of flexibility was identified by many people in the consultation as a barrier for people who want to take up work or to continue working. People may want to work fewer hours, or change the kind of work they do, for example to undertake less physically demanding work; and they may want or need to retrain to keep pace with developments. Flexible working can benefit both workers and employers, as the examples below demonstrate.

One of the main reasons for older workers, especially women, seeking flexibility is the need to balance employment with caring responsibilities. Older people can be involved in a range of caring responsibilities, and many carers do not wish to give up work, or are unable to because of financial necessity. Employers may feel that carers should leave work if they are unable to balance employment with caring; and once older carers have left the labour market it can be very difficult for them to re-enter it once their caring responsibilities change or come to an end. It has been estimated that, over the course of a year, a medium-sized employer is likely to have six people with caring responsibilities (of 20 or more hours a week), and that nine are likely to start and seven to cease having caring responsibilities, (Howard, 2005). It is therefore essential that employment policies and practices recognise the needs of carers; and that flexible options are provided to allow carers to balance their multiple needs and responsibilities.

From April 2007 existing UK legislation on flexible working is extended to allow carers of adults the right to request flexible working, with a duty on employers to consider such requests seriously and only reject them for good business reasons.

Increasing flexibility and the removal of barriers to work in later life can offer businesses significant benefits in terms of staff retention, which keeps experience and expertise in the organisation at the same time as reducing recruitment costs. An increasing number of Scottish employers are now benefiting from changing work practices in this way.

Case Study: Advance appointment scheme
An advance appointment scheme was introduced to the NHS on 5 July 2006. This makes the skills of consultants who are about to retire available to assist Specialist Registrar grade doctors in the transition to a consultant position. A key aim of the Scheme is to help retain in NHS Scotland higher numbers of Specialist Registrars who have completed their training; and it operates by providing funding to NHS Boards to target consultant posts where the existing consultant is about to retire or leave, and allows a Specialist Registrar to take up a consultant position for a period of up to 6 months whilst the existing consultant is still in post. Thus the new and retiring consultants work together, with the latter able to pass on skills established over many years. It also allows more flexible working arrangements for the retiring consultant as he/she is able to "step down" as they approach retirement. The scheme will be evaluated as the year progresses.

Employment Policy

Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP). Training and learning provided in support of employment policies, whether delivering workplace skills or skills aimed at improving employability, is a shared responsibility between the Scottish Executive and DWP. DWP has a national ambition of an 80% employment rate overall, with 1 million more older workers in employment, and has put in place a range of policies to support this ambition. Among these is the reform of incapacity benefit, aimed at helping many people in receipt of Incapacity Benefit (many of whom are over 50) back into the workforce.

The Scottish Executive supports the delivery of effective services to achieve this, and its lifelong learning provision makes a significant contribution. The Framework for Economic Development in Scotland states that "The responsibility to deal with this demographic change primarily lies with the private sector, but the Scottish Executive has a role in facilitating the transition to new patterns of work that take account of an ageing workforce, by making sure that people have access to information and learning opportunities" (Scottish Executive, 2004a).

In addition, Workforce Plus: an Employability Framework for Scotland, launched in June 2006, aims specifically to improve the employability of all of the population who wish to work (Scottish Executive, 2006h). It will bring greater focus to the development of people's motivation, confidence and opportunities to work by providing, under local leadership working with businesses, a more rational delivery of services aimed at supporting people into work. These services include not just training and learning, but also others such as health and social care services and regeneration programmes. Implementation of Workforce Plus at local level will be heavily focussed on people who have been out of work and claiming benefits for many years, but who want to return to work. Most of these people are over 50, or will become over 50 in the initial timeframe for Workforce Plus to achieve its targets by 2010.

Key aims of current policy are to ensure that older people who, for whatever reason, are no longer in the workforce can acquire the skills and support they need to successfully re-enter the job market if they wish; that those in the workforce continue to have access to the training that they may require in order to keep their skills up to date; and that those who may want to make a change in employment direction or pace have the support they need to make such a transition.

We will develop new approaches to encourage and support lower skilled older workers to improve their skills and employability.

Recognising that for some, the wish to remain in the workforce may involve career change, we will work with Careers Scotland to support career decision-making for older people wishing to remain in the workforce.

The Scottish Executive does not seek indiscriminately to keep people in their jobs for longer, but to release the potential of people in the later stages of their working lives by allowing them to fulfil personal ambitions and, at the same time, to make a significant contribution to the country's wider economic, social and cultural life. In seeking this, the Scottish Executive sees advantages both for older workers, who will be able to exercise more choice in later life, and for the Scottish economy as it faces the challenges of demographic change and younger workers become fewer.

The skills and energies of older Scots can contribute in leadership roles too: for example, some may wish to use accumulated savings, entrepreneurial drive and expertise to start a new business. Self employment can become an increasingly significant component of employment as people age, and it provides the flexibility many older workers want.

Enterprise Networks will support older people wishing to set up in business as part of their wide ranging business support activities. In the Scottish Enterprise area this will be through Business Gateway where older people will have access to a range of support services such as access to information, events on how to start a business and advice covering the full range of business activities, for example preparation of a business plan, market research and financial guidance. In Highlands and Islands Enterprise ( HIE), business start-up support is accessible through the Local Enterprise Companies.

The Enterprise Networks will monitor levels of older people setting up in business. They will also develop new approaches specifically aimed at older people: for example, Scottish Enterprise will pilot Personal Enterprise Shows with a specific emphasis on people aged over 50.

Making the most of the potential of older Scots will mean having support available, for example through Careers Scotland and other organisations, to enable people to access the right information, advice and guidance to allow them to make a change of direction. Through initiatives such as Age Positive, and through their own experience, employers increasingly understand and value the benefits of retaining their older workers, possibly in a different capacity, and perhaps by adopting more flexible working practices to allow this to happen. Recent legislation, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, makes unjustified discrimination on grounds of age in employment and training unlawful, providing new protection and opportunities for older workers. More widely maximising potential means exploring and maximising the opportunities for older workers to bring their experience to bear, whether in a volunteering role or in some form of consultancy in, for example, mentoring younger workers, or advising small businesses or supporting voluntary organisations.

The Scottish Executive will work with its partners to promote and support the employability of older people. This will include work through the Equality Matters in Business project with small and medium size enterprises to promote the business benefits of employing and retaining older workers.

There is a vast resource of experience and talent in those reaching the later stages of their careers. It is in their interests, and in the interests of the wider community, that they should have the opportunity to stay at work, retire, or change pace or direction as their life circumstances change. But the challenge which this Strategy is determined to address is how properly to respect individuals' wishes at this stage in their lives while at the same time making available to them every opportunity to release for the wider good of the community and the economy all their accumulated skills, expertise and knowledge. Because it is only by making effective use of all of these that the First Minister's vision of our ageing population as an asset to Scotland can be realised.

Case Study: No retirement age
Following the introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the Scottish Executive has introduced a "no retirement age" policy. The Scottish Executive is committed to promoting equality and diversity both for its own staff and within the wider Scottish community and believes that a no retirement age policy helps us in our continued aim to be an exemplar employer within Scotland. By allowing staff to continue in employment as long as they wish subject to the normal rules concerning performance, conduct and attendance, the policy will empower people to make their own choices about working.

The Scottish Executive will, as an exemplar employer, promote best practice in flexible employment; starting with the introduction of its own 'no retirement age' policy.

Workplace Health

Health in the workplace is a key part of helping people stay at work, particularly in the older age groups where poor health is more likely to result in people having to stop work against their wishes.

The Executive established the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives in 2005, which is seen as pioneering in its role for providing focus for workplace health, safety and wellbeing services. The Centre provides confidential Occupational Health Service advice through a website and phone line to all employers and employees, and offers site visits to advise Small and Medium Enterprises.

We have provided financial support for research to improve workplace health with an ageing population through the Centre. This is due to be published in March 2007 and will inform our considerations on future direction.

The Healthy Working Lives award, previously Scotland's Health at Work ( SHAW), recognises the efforts of employers to develop workplace policies that promote health, safety and wellbeing amongst the workforce. Over 40% of Scotland's working population works for an organisation registered by SHAW.

The NHS is piloting a rapid intervention approach for staff in Lanarkshire and Fife to establish the benefits to both employers and employees of helping people to get help earlier and return to work sooner. If this approach is successful it is intended that the service will be rolled out across all Health Boards.

Future Challenges for Employers

"We live in a society where diversity of background, culture, knowledge and skills should be valued and nurtured. We want a society where people actively engage in their communities, local and national, and learning can enable people to do that. Lifelong learning contributes to the development of society through the achievement of other social goals such as civic participation, sustainable development, improved health and wellbeing, reduced crime and greater social cohesion."
(Scottish Executive, 2003c).

Scottish employers will find themselves at the leading edge of change and adaptation. An age diverse workforce can play a full part in Scotland's economic development, driving up productivity, developing a successful knowledge-based and service-based economy and competing effectively. Employers who wish to retain and fully exploit their investment in developing skilled workers should begin now to adapt practices and develop more flexible approaches to working to attract and retain older workers and secure the business benefits they bring.

We need a new concept of work and of workplaces, based on creative thinking and innovative practice. Employers will wish, for example, to accommodate senior managers who wish to move out of or reduce their input to leadership roles, but want to continue within their organisations as mentors or international representatives. These experienced workers have potential as a source of continuity and intellectual capital in companies where the younger workforce may have to adopt a more transient role within a global economy, moving from job to job as their careers progress or in and out of jobs to pursue career or travel breaks.

We need a new concept of working lives. This could be built on innovative approaches like advance financial and health "stock-takes" during working life and longer term planning for phased winding down of full-time work. Opportunities to gain experience of volunteering could be built in to personal development during working life through sabbaticals and workplace learning. This could help people to plan whether they want to continue in their jobs or to explore volunteering or other paid employment. Individualised life-long learning can make a strong contribution here, helping individuals to develop an adaptable and flexible portfolio of skills for work and leisure, enabling future contribution in a wide range of settings.

We need a new concept of workplace health that acknowledges the economic relevance of investing in the long-term health of employees. This will involve using health promotion and education to minimise the development of preventable disease and the innovative development of workplaces as health-promoting environments. Standards in workplace food should be exemplary and creative strategies are required to encourage regular daily physical activity. Perhaps the greatest challenge for workplace health is in supporting good mental health and well-being; employers will therefore need to be ahead of the field in introducing the latest thinking in positive psychology, building self-esteem and motivation within an emotionally intelligent working environment at every level.

Public sector employers should lead the way. The combined public sector represents Scotland's major employer. This provides an unsurpassed opportunity for the country to benefit from creative planning and investment for the world-class workforce of the future and all public sector organisations should be positioning themselves now to be exemplary employers of an ageing workforce. They will need to consider how best to nurture and develop high skill levels and building opportunities to get the best from increasing numbers of older, experienced workers. At the same time, they will also have to ensure that they can recruit and get the best from younger people in the workforce and respond to a more diverse, transient workforce operating within a global context.

Challenges for employers

• Building a new concept of work and of workplaces
• Building a new concept of working lives
• Building a new concept of workplace health, acknowledging its impact on productivity and economic success

Volunteering and the Voluntary Sector

Scotland's older people already contribute to the rich diversity and creativity within Scotland's large and developing voluntary sector. Developments to re-define our concept of work and work-life balance could create significant opportunities for volunteering and increase the participation of highly skilled workers in this sector. Older people have a key role to play in developing the voluntary sector both as volunteers and as strategic leaders.

Older people already make a significant contribution to their communities and to Scottish society by undertaking volunteering across a wide range of activities, for example service giving; campaigning; mutual aid or civic participation. People volunteer formally, usually through an organisation, but also informally by helping a friend or neighbour directly. Although the majority of volunteering takes place in the voluntary sector around 25% of volunteers say they are active in the public sector.

Case Study: Befriending
The Cowal Elderly Befriending Scheme aims to minimise isolation and loneliness for elderly people in Cowal by providing companionship and support. It provides access to a range of social and leisure activities to enable people to remain active in their local community. There are 30 active volunteers, some of whom are young people, supporting 110 frail and isolated older people. Services include one to one befriending, information and advice, social events and activities and volunteering opportunities.

Volunteering brings many benefits, not only to recipients of the service provided but also to older people as volunteers. For some people volunteering is an effective route back into employment. For others it is an end in itself. In either case, through enabling people to continue active participation in society and contribute in ways that interest them, volunteering benefits the physical and mental wellbeing of older volunteers, enhancing self-esteem, giving a sense of purpose and enabling them to maintain or develop social networks. Older people can also act as role models, for example in sport, where as well as participating themselves, they can fulfil a promotional and stimulating role in encouraging young people and their parents to make a commitment to sport. The Olympics in 2012 and our campaign for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 will provide wide opportunities to celebrate active and strong communities - as well as sport. Both events will need the support of large numbers of volunteers who will come from every age group and walk of life.

Volunteering by older people also has significant economic value. Data from the 2005 Scottish Household Survey suggests that 48% of all volunteering in Scotland is undertaken by those in the 50+ age group, representing 65 million hours out of a Scottish total of 135 million (Scottish Executive, 2006e). This is equivalent to 34,000 full-time jobs, and amounts to a value of between £467 million and £564 million.

However, would-be volunteers can face barriers to undertaking volunteering activity. Many older people do not appreciate that they could volunteer or have a role to play; people may have concerns about regulations; about expenses; or about the impact of mobility problems or other forms of disability.

The Scottish Executive acknowledges these difficulties, and is taking forward its Volunteering Strategy (Scottish Executive, 2004d) with a wide range of partners, such as Volunteer Development Scotland, local volunteer centres and volunteer engagers. This includes developing flexible approaches to volunteering, so that older people are enabled and supported to volunteer for as long as they want in ways that suit them best.

The Scottish Executive also provides support to Community Service Volunteers to run the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme ( RSVP) which promotes 50+ volunteering in a wide range of projects across schools, health and social care settings, heritage and the environment. The RSVP also conducts the administration of the National Forum on Older Volunteering in Scotland. This Forum meets quarterly and provides a platform for organisations to exchange information on policy and practice related to volunteering by older people in Scotland. The Scottish Executive has welcomed the report "A Vital Resource - A Strategy for Older Volunteering in Scotland", produced by the National Forum in 2006 (National Forum on Older Volunteering, 2006).

It is important to ensure that older people can readily access accurate and comprehensive information about volunteering opportunities and impartial advice on which of those opportunities are most suitable to them. The Scottish Executive funds a national network of volunteer centres to provide this service to older people and the rest of the population. Older people can get face to face advice at their local volunteer centre but can also access the information online at www.volunteerscotland.org.uk .

There may also be more that employers can do: by incorporating opportunities for their workers to volunteer as a transition to retirement, or as a part of a partial retirement which combines the opportunity to volunteer with part-time paid employment.

The role of older people in volunteering is substantial. We provide support as described above, but we believe it is essential that organisations involved with volunteering consider how they can make the most of the potential contribution of older people and work to identify and remove barriers and promote good practice.

Future Actions: Volunteering

Project Scotland will drive engagement between generations by creating increased opportunities for volunteer mentors and strengthened partnerships with voluntary organisations that serve and are served by older people.

The Scottish Executive will invite applications for funding from consortia of voluntary organisations for pilot projects which assist closer working between older and younger volunteers.

Volunteer Development Scotland will extend the MV Awards (formerly Millennium Volunteer Awards) to include awards for older people who have contributed particularly to inter-generational volunteering.

The Scottish Executive will mount a seminar in autumn 2007 in its series advancing the Vision for the Voluntary Sector to explore opportunities for volunteer organisations in Scotland to bring older and younger people together.

We will work to take forward the community-led approach to intergenerational volunteering pioneered through the work of the Peebles Youth Trust. We will do this by supporting projects elsewhere in Scotland that will test in other settings the learning and methodologies arising from the Peebles project.

Future Challenges for the Voluntary and Community Sectors

We want to develop a new concept of community as older people begin to constitute the majority of local populations and more people live alone. The increased number of older people have the potential to create a growing level of skill and commitment in the community and increased scope to develop intergenerational working. Community sectors could increasingly be led by, and develop agendas for, an older population as it expands. The challenge for these sectors will not be so much in understanding and meeting the needs of older people in communities, but in building resilience and self-sufficiency in the older population while still taking account of the needs of a smaller number of younger people who may be more likely to engage on single issues.

Challenges for the voluntary and community sectors

• Driving and managing unprecedented opportunity for engagement and expansion
• Removing barriers and building capacity within communities to benefit from expanding numbers of potential contributors among the older population
• Building resilience and self-sufficiency among the older population
• Ensuring that younger people are not marginalised

The Silver Economy

There are more retired people with a good income now than ever before; with people more likely to have occupational pensions and more likely to inherit from their parents than in previous decades. It is estimated that 80% of the UK's wealth is owned by people aged over 50. Recent research has shown that 64 to 74 year olds give more financial support to their adult children than they receive from them, overturning again the notion that older people are by definition dependent on the young.

Increasingly, there is recognition by business of the opportunities for economic growth this wealth distribution represents; it is a market with needs to be met. The traditional market for products and services for the frail elderly will remain but, with the increasing numbers of active and affluent older people, new sectors will grow as the needs and wants of the wider group require to be met.

The Scottish Executive in partnership with the business sector and our Enterprise Agencies and Networks will support and grow the Silver Economy. For example, through Equality Matters in Business, the economic potential of an ageing population will be promoted to small and medium sized enterprises.

Future Challenges for the Business Sector

The private sector plays a key role in Scotland's wealth creation, and the ageing population provides new opportunities for new product development to meet the needs and aspirations of older people.

Innovative companies will need to do more than simply develop products and services for a stereotyped idea of dependent older people. The over 50s are internationally increasingly recognised as a hugely significant and previously under-recognised market. Companies need to think creatively and strategically, including:

• developing new financial products to help older people make the most of continuing work, business, volunteering, enjoying leisure or taking up other opportunities;
• designing new techniques to help individuals appraise their options while still in the workforce or at the point of shifting from full-time commitment to a single employer;
• developing and marketing new training and learning packages to enable people to deal with changing, or new, jobs; and
• developing innovation in the construction industries to design an adaptable built environment for the future.

Companies in the knowledge and service-based economies will need to take account of an ageing Scottish and international customer base to boost their global competitiveness. Travel, leisure and recreation industries will have to ensure that they offer compelling and competitive services to an ageing population with more free-time, while also building brand loyalty with new, younger, customers.

We will want to promote and support greater entrepreneurial activity among older people to help us develop the creative and flexible solutions needed to ensure that we manage and benefit from an ageing population. We will wish to move now to eliminate bureaucracy and ensure that there are no barriers to prevent older people from accessing venture capital to allow older, skilled workers to take their leadership and marketing skills into private enterprises and consultancies or to start their own businesses.

Older people provide significant support to their local economies and communities through spending money locally on goods and services particularly in rural areas. They should expect to have access to diverse and competitive ranges regardless of where they live in Scotland. To fully exploit this potential will require input from the Scottish Executive's strategic function in enterprise and life-long learning. Our enterprise agencies and networks will also need to examine in detail the incentives and support needed to grow this "silver" economic potential in Scotland.

Challenges for the private sector

• Understanding and developing Scotland's "Silver Economy" and developing innovative and appropriate products and services for the future
• Developing a business culture that embraces entrepreneurship regardless of age
• Contributing to the global economy and to the development of thriving local economies

Carers

Most people who need care are cared for mainly by members of their family, friends or neighbours. In fact, in Britain today, around two-thirds of care provided to older people still comes from the family and the evidence shows that those who care for their spouse or partner tend to be older people. Carers provide health and social care and play a vital social and economic role in society. It is essential that this contribution is adequately recognised and supported.

Demographic changes will also influence intergenerational relationships and the caring roles undertaken by older people. A major trend in the changing patterns of family structures is the emergence of 'beanpole families' (Harper, 2003), in which the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren becomes increasingly important, with many grandparents supporting their own working children by providing childcare. Having multiple roles, such as caring for children and parents while also working, is also becoming more common, potentially affecting 18% of women and 11% of men over their working life (Howard, 2005). There are of course particular issues relating to carers who are also in employment, primarily their need for flexible working practices, and this is discussed in the next chapter.

Unpaid care is likely to grow in importance as people live longer and receive more care at home. The increasing number of frail older people underlines the importance of supporting carers and providing them with the information and support they need to help them cope and protect their own health.

Older people make an immense contribution by providing care for other people. The Care 21 Report: the Future of Unpaid Care in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2005b) was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to pull together thinking on how the situation for unpaid carers can be improved in Scotland, and to make recommendations on how this can be achieved. The Executive's response (Scottish Executive, 2006f) sets out a challenging long-term policy agenda to improve support for unpaid carers, with actions against almost every recommendation, including the 4 priority areas of respite, young carers, carer training and carer health.

A Respite Task group is already developing new strategic guidance to improve quality and accessibility of respite; and has been gathering evidence to assist with consideration of decisions about provision in the Spending Review. Following new incentives to GPs and guidance to NHS Boards, both are putting in place systems to identify carers, and help ensure they can access the information and support they need to manage their caring role.

The Scottish Executive will remain committed to working with carers as key partners in providing care. Those Care 21 Report recommendations with significant resource implications will be considered in the next Scottish Executive Spending Review in 2007.

Arts and Culture

Leisure time opportunities are greatly valued by older people, as is the kind of social interaction that engagement in cultural activity can bring. Other benefits, such as physical activity and general well-being - not forgetting pure enjoyment - can result from many different kinds of cultural participation.

The Scottish Executive's national cultural agencies (the Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen, the National Library of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland) together with sportscotland recognise the importance of Scotland's diverse population. In future years, these agencies will wish to take steps to ensure that their work fully includes Scotland's older people in all their diversity. For example, the new arts development agency, Creative Scotland, will be asked to develop national guidance on inclusive audience development practice, and one particular area of focus will be older people.

Older people can experience barriers of various kinds in participating in arts and culture. Recent research into the attendance of arts activities amongst those aged 65+ showed thatonly half (52%) had attended an event within the last 12 months, compared with 75% of Scots adults generally (Scottish Arts Council, 2005).

"Scotland's Culture", the new cultural policy statement launched by Ministers in January 2006, (Scottish Executive, 2006d) announced a new legal duty for local authorities to provide cultural entitlements for all citizens in their areas, making culture more accessible to everyone. To help local authorities prepare for this new duty, the Scottish Executive is launching a series of locally hosted Pathfinder projects which will explore and test how cultural entitlements will work in practice. A number of the selected Pathfinders have older people as either the main focus as one of the key groups involved.

This inclusive approach is central to our cultural strategy over the coming years and is intended progressively to secure the inclusion of all ages.

Case Study: Older Learners and the Arts
A new Scottish Adult Learning Partnership project - Older Learners and the Arts ( OLA) - focuses on promoting wellbeing and employability among older people through the arts. It will target over 50s, specifically those who are unemployed, moving on from or involved with caring responsibilities, lone parents, people with learning disabilities, ethnic minorities and people who have not been learning for some time to encourage their participation in the arts.

Digital Inclusion and Technology

Our world is increasingly rich in information technology; already people have seen their working and leisure activities transformed by computers, mobile phones, the internet and multi-channel television; and faster, cheaper innovations are inevitable. With some exceptions, however, the benefits of this technological revolution have only reached certain parts of society. The difference between those who are able to participate in and benefit from the growing knowledge society in which we live and those who are not, is referred to as the "Digital Divide" and Digital Inclusion is defined as social inclusion in the knowledge and information society. We are committed to making Scotland a digitally inclusive society in order to benefit the population as a whole; however this will only be possible through a collaborative approach between the public, private and voluntary sectors.

In 2001, the Scottish Executive launched the Digital Inclusion Strategy "Connecting Scotland's People" (Scottish Executive, 2001), which together with accompanying initiatives was designed to contribute to the overarching aim of tackling the issues around the Digital Divide. Its successor the Digital Inclusion Strategy 2006 "Digital Inclusion in Partnership", which was published in December 2006, builds on the findings from those initiatives and will be fully implemented to tackle the Digital Divide.

The public and the private sector need to work together in Information and Communications Technology ( ICT) development if the many different accessibility needs of an ageing population are to be met. The growth in the ageing population is a world wide issue and ICT solutions developed to meet this sector's needs could have the potential of raising commercial opportunities in international markets for Scottish products and services.

Better use of information technology could substantially improve the quality of life of Scotland's older people. It could, for example, provide social networks for isolated people; wider employment possibilities for those with disabilities; a vast range of new and exciting leisure activities - including 'virtual exercise groups' to maintain fitness; remote shopping; access to a wide variety of information for those who are confined to their homes; and systems, such as smart housing and telecare, that will help maintain frailer older people at home.

Such technology can change lives: as a disabled stroke patient said, "With the internet I can travel the world". There are many ways in which the lives of older Scots could be transformed by the appropriate use of communications and information technology; but, to maximise their impact, technologies must be adapted to cater for the range of physical, sensory and cognitive abilities within an ageing population.

The Scottish Executive has a vision of Scotland where everyone is able to take advantage of technology, and where technology adapts to an ageing population. We are committed to making Scotland a digitally inclusive society. This will require action by individuals, companies, local authorities, and the voluntary sector, as well as the ongoing commitment of the Scottish Executive to its Digital Inclusion Strategy.

Case Study: Angus 50 + IT Project
The Angus 50+ project has used ICT as the engagement and delivery tool to involve the 50+ age group in the development and improvement of services in their local area.

ICT Training has been delivered in small groups in locations where the learners are comfortable, including sheltered housing complexes and day care centres. Courses are tailored to meet each learner's needs. This has helped build the confidence of learners and remove the barriers of cost, transport and mobility. Testing and development of a website using inexperienced and frail users has led to enhancements to the site to meet access and usability needs of the older age group. Participants have also been involved in developing a Smartcard with service access and local and national discounts, as well as developing a Health and Wellbeing publication targeted at the over 50 age group. Involvement of the over 70 age group has been particularly high, and a number of users with accessibility issues are being supported to learn how to access and use the internet. Benefits other than development of ICT skills have been reported, in terms of increased self confidence as well as benefits from social contact and increased mental stimulation. The Scottish Executive fund the project and a full evaluation will be undertaken on its completion in March 2007.

Conclusion

Older people play a valuable role in Scottish society that is not fully recognised. The Scottish Executive wants to see this role supported and enhanced. The role of older people in volunteering is substantial, and it is essential that organisations involved with volunteering consider how they can make the most of the potential contribution of older people and work to identify and remove barriers and promote good practice.

We will continue to support lifelong learning through our Lifelong Learning Strategy, and we will continue to work to ensure that our colleges and universities respond to the demands of an ageing population so that appropriate learning and training opportunities are available to people aged 50+.

Older people make an immense contribution by providing care for other people, and we have set out a challenging long-term policy agenda to improve support for unpaid carers.

The Scottish Executive wants to see a society where everyone is able to take advantage of technology, and where technology adapts to an ageing population, and we are committed to making Scotland a digitally inclusive society. This will require action by individuals, companies, local authorities, and the voluntary sector, as well as the ongoing commitment of the Scottish Executive to its Digital Inclusion Strategy.

There are also a number of longer term challenges and opportunities to be considered by employers, by voluntary and community sectors, by the learning sector and by the business sector to maximise the benefits and opportunities presented by an ageing population.

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