by Joan Bakewell

I am proposing an amendment to the health and social care bill this week in the House of Lords calling for the appointment of a commissioner for older people. I am increasingly convinced we need a commissioner as story after story recounts failure to offer care for the helpless old.

Every day, headlines tell of new disasters. Most recently, as a result of a high court ruling, it has emerged that a care home in Sefton, Merseyside has been spending as little as £2.27 a day on food for its elderly residents. Council spending across the UK is being massively cut and the danger is that the true cost of care for needy older people is not being met.

Ros Altmann, director general of the over-50s group Saga, calls it a “national disgrace”. Other voices are expressing increasing concern from many directions. On Monday, the archbishop of Canterbury convened a meeting at Lambeth Palace to consider the plight of the old. Meanwhile, we still await a government white paper in response to the Dilnot recommendations for a cap on what individuals should have to pay. The whole field of social care is confused and confusing.