Category: CEOs

Earlier this year, as part of the NHS Development Programme, Age UK and the Age England Association asked Network Partners for your help to develop the next phase of our work supporting Local Age UKs to respond to new challenges and opportunities in the changing NHS and social care landscape. A big thank you to everyone who responded.

The latest set of resources from the programme are now available below, covering key topics around winter pressures planning, procurement and funding. You can also view the earlier resources released here.

Winter Guide Webinar | Tuesday 12 December

We are pleased to launch the Winter Guide Webinar, an in-depth session exploring the new resources produced by the NHS Development Programme and how they relate to policy priorities set out by NHS England.

This webinar will be led by the Health Influencing team at Age UK. It will explore what we believe will be motivating local NHS and social care services and commissioners both over the winter and into next year. It will look at the data and evidence resources we have produced and explore how these could help local Age UKs to engage and support their local system. The primary target for this engagement is Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and the key decision-making body, their Integrated Care Boards (ICB).

Book your place

The session will be held online on Tuesday 12 December from 10:30 to 11:30. To sign up, please contact belisario.iurcovich@ageuk.org.uk and the meeting link will be forwarded to you.

New Report | A Coordinated Response to Winter Pressures: Working together to support older people through winter

We are also pleased to share the Coordinated Response to Winter Pressures report.

This report aims to make the case for investing in older people’s services, particularly over the winter. It outlines the evidence for need, i.e. the disproportionate impact on older people when services are not meeting their needs; the impact on the system, whereby older people need crisis care which could be avoided; and some examples of where Age UKs are already supporting local services. It also provides some of the national policy drivers that will be motivating Integrated Care Board (ICB) decision-making and performance measures. 

This guide was produced as a reference sheet for Age UKs but primarily as a resource to send directly to ICBs. 

If you have any questions about this report please contact healthinfluencing@ageuk.org.uk.

ICS Data Tool Tutorial – Recording now Available!

We are also pleased to share the ICS Data Tool tutorial. This recorded session will walk you through the new ICS Data Tool, which take some of the key metrics used by the NHS to assess local performance and organises them by ICB area. It also includes a range of useful demographic data from the 2021 Census. One aim of this is to help Age UKs to see where may be particular challenges in their ICS area and how they compare with others.

The recording can be accessed by clicking here.

How to access the ICS Data Tool

If you would like to access the Data tool, please complete this short MS Form.

(NB: Access requires a MS Power BI Pro licence – if you don’t have this licence, please still complete the form as it will help us plan what assistance we can provide you.)

Any Questions? 

If you have any questions, feedback, or need more help with access, please contact localstatistics@ageuk.org.uk. 

In December 2022, Age UK announced the Cost of Living Response Fund Programme, which saw just under £5m awarded to the 126 Network Partners that applied. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the programme, below is an update and statistics on progress so far, using data that you have shared with us since the programme began.

Headline Findings

We would like to say a huge thank you to all Partners involved in the Programme for your unwavering dedication to supporting older people during these extremely challenging times – your impactful work is invaluable.

The data you have shared with us has further highlighted this and we really appreciate the time and effort in getting this to us.

From the data we received from Network Partners during the application process, we know the following interventions are being delivered since the funding started:

• 68 Network Partners are delivering Information & Advice.
• 48 Network Partners are using the funding to increase attendance at physical activity sessions or social groups.
• 54 Network Partners are using the funding to increase attendance at day centres or day clubs.
• 44 Network Partners are delivering home support.
• 32 Network Partners are delivering meal provision.

The data below covers the period from the start of delivery (February/March 2023) to June 2023 with data from 118 Partners[1]. So far, the Cost of Living Response Fund Programme has directly supported 37,930 0lder people across 122,000 interventions (as defined above).

[1] 4 Partners have not been included in this analysis; 3 Partners’ delivery was delayed to start in Q3 and we have not received reporting from 1 Partner.

Download the full summary report

We’ve compiled a longer report about the work Partners have been doing so far to support older people through the Cost of Living Response Fund. Please click below to read the full report:

The report includes some examples of how Partners have been using the funding:

“Our regular social groups have helped older people by addressing social isolation and loneliness, as well as removing transport barriers which often prevent those older people with low incomes and with no network of supporters from accessing services. Our Echome project which ran this Quarter, has helped bring fun, enjoyment, and gentle physical exercise to a group of older people as part of a project testing out “movement sonification” devices led by the University of Leeds.

Our Fashion Show, a one off event, provided opportunities for older people to do something outside of their comfort zone, boosting confidence and self-esteem. Finally, our service talks and presentations helped to raise awareness of our services out in local communities and promoted future events which will be funded by the CoL grant.”

Age UK Leeds

Get your next grant payment before Christmas

A reminder that to guarantee you receive your next grant payment before Christmas, please ensure you send over your final submission by Friday 1 December. Otherwise, your payment will be processed in the new year.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Anna Bootle, the Project Manager at costofliving@ageuk.org.uk if you have any questions or would like any further information.

Subsequent reporting deadlines are Wednesday 31 January and Tuesday 30 April 2024.

Thank you again for all the amazing work you are doing to support older people during this difficult time.

Please contact Anna, Project Manager, on costofliving@ageuk.org.uk if you have any questions or queries about the Programme.    

Our Shared Future is the project to coproduce a new Network Agreement and Shared Strategy for all of our organisations. You can find out more about the programme and how it works here.

The majority of work on Our Shared Future is being carried out by Senior Staff and Trustees, but as this is an important project, we are including brief updates in Signpost so colleagues across the Network who may not be directly involved in the programme can stay up-to-date.

The First Our Shared Future Consultation Period has now Closed

Back in September, we messaged in Signpost to say that the First Consultation Period for Our Shared Future had begun, with CEOs and Chairs of all Partners asked to give their feedback on consultation document, titled: “Summary of Key Proposals for Consultation” by Friday 10 November.

So far, 84 Boards have submitted their feedback – a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part so far! The Our Shared Future Strategy Group will now use the feedback provided to develop new documentation which will be circulated with Partner CEOs and Boards to start the Second Consultation Period.

This is an important next step towards finalising a new Shared Strategy and Network Agreement for all of our organisations, so we will continue to provide updates on Our Shared Future in Signpost over the coming months.

If you have any questions about your organisation’s role in the process, please speak to your CEO, or get in touch with the OSF Strategy Group: sharedfuture@ageuk.org.uk.

To continue supporting your organisations to access and use data about the older populations in your areas, Age UK have continued our agreement to provide access to the LG Inform and LG Inform Plus platforms for local Age UKs until 31 March 2024. Find out more about LG Inform below, including how to sign up for some free upcoming training sessions across autumn and winter.

What is LG Inform?

LG Inform is a data service provided by the Local Government Association (LGA) for English local authorities. It has been designed and developed together with councils to a high standard using modern web-based technologies to benchmark performance across some 10,300 individual data items. The system is well used, for example, 95% of all English local authorities regularly use it.

You can access LG Inform here. 

Training programme 2023/24

To help you to get the most out of these data services we have commissioned a number of free virtual training events to be provided by the LG Inform team.

There are two different sessions on offer:

An Introduction to LG Inform

This webinar provides an overview of LG Inform, including a walkthrough of the public pages, using the headline and standard reports. We show users how to find ready-made reports, and how to use the search function to find data. The resources created for Age UK will be showcased as well as a brief introduction to the some of the functions reserved for signed-in users.

Using the LG Inform Report Builder

The report builder session takes you through the process of accessing the 10,300 metrics available in the database so registered users can build and save their own ‘custom’ reports in LG Inform. We will show how to create reports from scratch or build them from existing materials. How they can be ‘shared’ or embedded into existing websites or intranets will be highlighted.

Book your place!

NB – It is recommended that you attend the LG Inform: An Introduction, before the Building Reporting session.

Get in touch!

If you have any questions about this initiative, please contact Local Statistics – localstatistics@ageuk.org.uk

Want to access more statistics from Age UK?

The Partner Insight Hub is a space to support partners to access data, insights and research from across the Age UK Network and relevant external sources. This includes the quarterly reports from each Partner Information Return.