Havering campaign to install minister for older people moves forward with letter to Prime Minister
11:32 03 April 2014
The campaign to get a government minister for older people installed has moved a step closer with an open letter now on its way to the Prime Minister.
Last week, Cliff Reynolds, chairman of the Havering Over 50s Forum, and Cllr Pam Light presented Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative MP Dame Angela Watkinson with a letter containing more than 500 signatures.
She will now take it to Downing Street and present it to David Cameron, who the campaigners hope to convince of the need for a minister to be appointed.
Mr Reynolds believes older people have needs that are “not properly represented in parliament.”
He said: “Many areas across the country have a large elderly population, particularly Havering, approximately one third of our 250,000 population are over 50.
“There is a minister for children and rightly so as their needs are different from adults, and one for people with disabilities whose needs are different again.
“Why not a minister for older people, whose needs can be complex and are not covered anywhere else?”