Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Committee

Enterprise and Culture Committee, 16 Jan 2007

16 Jan 2007 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee

Item of business

“Growing older and wiser together—A futures view on positive ageing”

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood (Scotland's Futures Forum Aging Project Board): Watch on SPTV

I noted that you are a director of the futures forum, convener, and I hold that to your credit rather than hold you to account for it. I welcome the opportunity to meet the committee and to present the work of many others. The advisory board's role was to advise; the actual work was done by Robert Rae and his colleagues, to whom I pay tribute. Robert is sitting behind me and I am sure that several of the other people who were involved will take a close interest and welcome the interest that is being shown by a major committee of the Scottish Parliament.I have enjoyed working with good people and stimulating ideas, but probably what I most liked about the project was the idea of the futures forum and of the Parliament and parliamentarians looking into the future. I will not say that that is a change of culture, because that would insult members. However, a welcome and important facet of any worthwhile Parliament's work is looking beyond, rather than being driven by, tomorrow's headlines—I understand it if members are preoccupied with May's elections; that is all right and is part of the job. However, looking to the issues that will shape Scottish society in 10, 15 and 20 years is essential if we are to get things right. It is also essential, as members will know from press coverage of the report, if we are to avoid throwing our hands in the air and crying crisis when to do so is unnecessary.The report's theme and point are to provoke thought, discussion with the wider community—much of which is represented today—and action after that. To some extent, that is over to members, but not only to members. Three parties are involved in the issue. The first is the Executive, the second is the business community, for reasons that I am sure we will go into in great detail, and the third is the individual—what help does the individual need to think through the implications of a significant change that is taking place in our society?Members will note that the report has a title and a strapline that follows it. I have covered the strapline, "A futures view on positive ageing". I do not know about the title, "Growing older and wiser together". I have got the growing older bit covered, but I am not sure that I have quite mastered the growing wiser. However, that is me rather than the report.The point of the report is to focus minds on an issue that we know is already changing our society—the Parliament has been deeply involved in some of these matters—and will continue to do so at a wholly predictable rate, which means that we can make sensible preparations. The problem is not going to turn up out of the blue. We have known for decades that the demography of our country is changing. You have all seen the numbers and the way in which the population is moving towards the upper age range. The number of people who will, in the end, depend on those who are in work to provide the growth in the economy that will continue the quality of life for which we all hope is growing significantly larger.I have an example. Statistically speaking, during this meeting our life expectancy will grow by between 10 and 15 minutes. I cannot allocate that to each person here individually, but that is the reality. During the time it takes to have this meeting, our life expectancy will go up, so I hope that it is shared out equally all round.

Search Hansard contributions

Enterprise and Culture Committee, 16 Jan 2007

In the same item of business