Ministerial Advisory Forum on Ageing meeting minutes: 4 June 2025

Professor John Williams, Academia, Aberystwyth University
Professor Charles Musselwhite, Academia, Aberystwyth University
Professor Paul Willis, Academia, Cardiff University
Harry Lightfoot, Academia, Cardiff University (Intern)
Barry Stephens, Active Wales
Vicki Lloyd (VL), Age Cymru, Chair 
Kathy Lye, Age Cymru
Faye Patton (FP), Care and Repair Cymru
Gemma Lelliott, Community Transport Association
Andrew Hinchliffe, Cymru Older People’s Alliance (COPA)
Councillor Leo Thomson, Local Authority Age Friendly Network, Cardiff Council
Councillor Hayley Gwilliam, Local Authority Age Friendly Network, Swansea Council
Rachel Bowen, Office of the Older People’s Commissioner
Dilys Jouvenat, Older Person’s Representative
Rachel Luxton, Older Person’s Representative
Lyn Cadwalladr, One Voice Wales (Town & Community Councils)
Emily Van de Venter, Public Health Wales
Peter Walters, Wales Seniors Forum
Sarah Capstick, Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Dawn Jeffery, Welsh Women’s Aid
David Hall (DH), Welsh Government
Anthony Jordan, Welsh Government
Rachel Lewis (RL), Welsh Government
Emma Harney, Welsh Government
Shyam Vining, Welsh Government
Gethin Edwards (GE), Welsh Government
Lucy Richardson, Welsh Government

Formal apologies

Brian Godsell, National Pensioners Convention
Jim McManus, Public Health Wales
Suzanne Kearsley-Evans, Older Person’s Representative
Darren Hughes, Welsh NHS Confederation

Vicki Lloyd noted that actions from the last meeting (12 March) have either been completed or are ongoing. 

An updated “draft” version of the MAFA Terms of Reference was circulated to members prior to the meeting. Members agreed to the Terms and significant emphasis was put on the expectations for all members:

• represent their organisations or representative groups at meetings and use this as a basis for providing informed advice
• feed back to their organisations or representative groups following meetings
• influence a positive culture in their respective organisations to encourage action to support an ageing population
• provide a focus and impetus for the debate of and support for the development of effective policies to benefit older people
• share good practice from their organisations or representative group
• challenge and discuss ideas and policies respectfully

The accompanying Code of Conduct for attendance at meetings was also agreed. Both documents are attached to the e-mail that accompanies this meeting note.

Rachel Lewis spoke around this agenda item and the following points were noted:

• Welsh Government work on the evaluation of the Age Friendly Communities Grant has begun. The evaluation will be used to provide evidence to the Minister for Children and Social Care for continuation of the funding post-March 2026
• officials are currently consulting with colleagues who have a background in the completion of evaluations and are pulling together a list of questions to be asked to the Local Authority Age Friendly Network
• a questionnaire will be issued to local authorities towards the end of the summer. It is important that momentum does not waiver with this work
• Age Cymru are also planning to run a series of workshops with older people who are benefitting from the age friendly funding in their local areas. It is unclear at this stage whether the evaluation will be published, but officials will set up a meeting with interested members of MAFA to analyse the findings

A question was asked as to whether “Ripple Effect Mapping” had been considered for this work. Officials confirmed that resourcing and capacity will not lend themselves to a full ripple effect mapping, however elements of this concept will be adopted.

Gethin Edwards and Lucy Richardson gave a presentation on this agenda item which is attached to the e-mail that accompanies this meeting note. 

The following key points were noted:

• the Public Engagement and Stakeholder team is external facing, aiming to raise the profile of work undertaken by the National Office
• many building blocks are needed to achieve the National Office, 'what matters to you' conversations will continue
• officials want to co-produce this work and have already been working with Llais, with further work planned with groups such as Age Cymru, MAFA, and COPA
• officials are also visiting the Royal Welsh Show and working with organisations such as Age Cymru Powys as part of the 'Mamwlad' project to engage with farming communities in rural areas
• conversations moved to day-to-day issues being faced by people, with suggestions that more work needs to be undertaken to speed up hospital discharge so that acute hospital beds are available for people who need them
• better linkage with care homes was also referenced, with Gethin Edwards confirming this was something the National Office is already considering
• the National Office will not cover services such as district nurses as these are commissioned by health not social care
• the National Office has been in existence for just over 1 year and its first annual report will be published shortly

David Hall and Gemma Lelliott gave a presentation on this agenda item which is attached to the e-mail that accompanies this meeting note.

The following key points were noted:

• the Community Transport Association (Wales) are a very small organisation that gets very little funding from Welsh Government; however they work with lots of smaller companies, usually on a voluntary basis
• there is a mixed picture as to what community transport looks like in Wales; there is no universal Welsh coverage with any members. Demand for services is currently so high that operators are having to turn people away. Capacity needs to be increased
• for many areas of Wales, distance and availability, especially in more rural areas, is a significant issue
• A question was asked about the viability of using automated (driverless) vehicles. Gemma Lelliott confirmed that they were unable to do this at present but would be happy to have a further conversation around this topic
• it was agreed that if the main transport network improved that this would improve the community transport sector. Bus franchising may support community transport going forward
• there needs to be better recognition of the community transport sector and ultimately more funding

Faye Patton gave a presentation on this agenda item and the following key points were noted:

• current requirements placed on this sector by Welsh Government (WG) are very difficult to meet and concerns were raised about future WG proposals as this will have a significant impact on funding
• Local Authorities do not have sufficient funding to implement new Welsh Government housing legislation intended to support green initiatives
• Care and Repair have produced a useful “dos and don’ts” leaflet for older people
• Care and Repair are a service that is more reactive than proactive
• the link between mental health and housing is significant
• reaching an older person prior to crisis point is crucial. A suggestion was made about advertising services in GP surgeries
• Vicki Lloyd said that a task and finish group will now be created to explore this subject in more details Members were asked to let officials in the Older People’s Rights branch know if they would like to be involved (including suggestions for other potential organisations’ involvement) and a group will be created in the summer

Action

• task & finish group to be convened to explore housing and older people in more detail

Paul Willis confirmed that Harry Lightfoot has been successful in obtaining an 8 week internship to undertake specific pieces of work to support the ageism agenda. 

It is anticipated that Harry will scope out what literature and policies that currently apply in Wales that have been published regarding ageism over the past 15 years or so. A meeting will take place on 12 June to agree a programme of work for the next 8 weeks.

An update on this work will be provided at the next meeting.

Work on ageism is continuing despite a pause in the MAFA working group. Officials and Age Cymru are currently considering a potential Big Lottery bid for funding and the group will reconvene shortly to discuss this.

Action

• reconvene the Ageism Task & Finish Group to discuss moving this work forward