"A distance growing between Parliament and people" was blamed by Copeland's MP Jamie Reed for the inadequate understanding of the needs of older people. The fact that MPs are are getting younger and wealthier could easily make them too remote from the needs of the older and poorer people they serve.
"Our understanding in Parliament is in a parlous state," he acknowledged candidly, stressing the need for "someone who understands their issues" and calling for a Minister for Older People to provide more advocacy and argue the case for a higher level of professional training for carers so that they are equipped to spot the emerging needs of older people. "They don't get this training at present, and that requires more money," he asserted.
That is why he felt it so important to come to the Listening Event held by Age Concern Northwest Cumbria Listening Event in support of Age Concern England’s "The Big Q?" campaign on the future of the Social Care System. In response to concerns about inadequate transport service and difficulty in getting on the few buses that are provided, he complained about a "Metropolitan Malaise" which caused civil servants to suppose that "if it works in London it must work in Whitehaven." Care costs more here because of the transport system, and he suggested that the extra cost needed to be borne by the Primary Care Trust, the principal developer, which has more money than ever before..

There had to be a bigger and better role for the voluntary sector – not to provide Care on the cheap, but to "join up Care." Charities are expected to plug gaps, "gaps in care that shouldn’t be there", he argued.
"We have a golden opportunity with the redesign of local health care," he declared, pointing to the Hospital re-build, the Millom investment an, the cottage hospitals.

He thanked Age Concern for organising "this fantastic event" in partnership with Cumbria County Council, and promised to come again to discuss the government’s Green paper on Care or earlier if there were more concerns.