Appointment of the Commissioner for Older People in Wales

I have great pleasure in making this statement on the first appointment to the post of Commissioner for Older People in Wales. I am pleased for a number of reasons, not least because Wales and its Assembly is once again leading the way and setting an example for others to follow. I also declare an interest as one of Wales’s older people. Wales was the first country in the UK to appoint a children’s commissioner to give children and young people a stronger voice, and we are now the first country in the United Kingdom and perhaps in the world, to have a commissioner to champion the interests of older people.

A little less than a month ago, the Northern Ireland Assembly announced that it is committed to following suit and is setting out on the path to create a commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland. Once again, Wales is setting a trend that others are keen to follow. Wales was already recognised as a world leader not merely in providing more services to older people, such as free local bus travel and free swimming, but also in involving older people in developing the services that affect them. This so-far unique commissioner will further consolidate Wales’s reputation for innovation and partnership working in older people’s policy. The post of commissioner was established by the Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Act 2006. That Act provides for a robust set of statutory powers, which will enable the commissioner to make a positive difference to the lives of older people across Wales.

In appointing the commissioner, we were able to bring together a panel of older people, nominated by members of the national partnership forum and representing a variety of different ages and backgrounds. The panel held its own interviewing and selection exercise and tested the shortlisted candidates’ ability to relate to the realities of life for all kinds of older people in Wales. Two of its members then joined the formal selection panel and contributed fully to its deliberations. I am very grateful to all members for giving so freely of their time and experience in contributing to the appointment process. I also thank Assembly Members from across our different political parties, together with the two members of the older people’s panel, who sat on the formal interview panel, chaired by Assembly Member and Deputy Minister Gwenda Thomas. I find it reassuring that both panels recommended the same candidate for the post of Commissioner for Older People in Wales. That candidate was Ruth Marks, and I am delighted that Ruth has accepted the post of Commissioner for Older People in Wales. She is currently the director of the Royal National Institute for the Blind Cymru, a role that she has held since 2005. Prior to that, she was chief executive of Chwarae Teg. In 2007, she was awarded the MBE for services to Welfare to Work. Ruth will take up her post on 21 April after serving her notice for RNIB Cymru.

What is a commissioner? It is important that people understand that she will not be running a department of the Assembly Government staffed by civil servants, dealing with policy on older people, or competing with the ombudsman in investigating individual complaints as part of the formal redress system. As commissioner, Ruth will be a champion and a voice for older people, in the same way as the children’s commissioner has been for children and young people in Wales. Like the children’s commissioner, Ruth will be quite independent of the Assembly Government, and her role will be to ensure that the interests of older people in Wales, who are defined as being aged 60 or more, are safeguarded, voiced and promoted.

I congratulate Ruth on her appointment and warmly welcome her to this important new role. We must value older people more, and robustly tackle discrimination on the grounds of age. We must challenge unfair and outdated stereotypes, attitudes and practices that adversely affect older people. I am sure that our new commissioner will define her own role in her own way, but, from what she has said already, I am sure that she will live up to all of these aims and more.