As we are all aware, the employment and skills ‘landscape’ continues to change at an ever increasing pace, with shifting policy priorities, organizations disappearing and key personnel moving on. Such change has meant that what was a priority and possible a few months ago is now not so. It has therefore been decided (July 2011) to draw to a close the work of the Age Management Standing Group (AMSG) and to thank all those who have been concerned with it over the years that it has been in being, arising as it did out of the work of the SWOOP (South West Opportunities for Older People) project and the subsequent commissioning and support from SWRDA and latterly the SW RESP.
AMSG members are in no doubt that age demography remains one of the most important issues for our society. However, it is also systemic, cutting across employment, retirement, health and care, and societal knowledge and experience. As such, it is particularly subject to changes of focus and attention as singular policy priorities come and go.
However, AMSG’s focus area of age, employment and knowledge capital will need to be addressed further in the not-too-distant future, and we hope that all the experience accumulated through SWOOP and the AMSG will not have become too dispersed when that time comes, and that the expertise will once again be drawn upon, perhaps in a context that is less divisive across the policy areas that age demography ‘touches’. Finally, sincere thanks are due to the RDA and ESF for funding the work of SWOOP, the AMSG and their undoubted achievements.’
South West Opportunities for Older People (SWOOP) existed to enhance the employment prospects of older people in the South West of England. We researched the implications of demographic ageing and what worked in helping older people, and used our findings to influence decisions about what and how services would be delivered.
The South West Regional Skills Partnership identified demographic change as a key challenge for the region and set up the Age Management Standing Group to ensure that its policies and actions met the needs of older people and their employers. The secretariat for the Standing Group was provided by SWOOP (South West Opportunities for Older People).
SWOOP was a pooled resource that was responsible for:
The resources consisted of a full-time Research and Development Manager and the activities of Age Management Standing Group members who contributed to the implementation of the SWOOP work programme. The Research and Development Manager was funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and the Marchmont Observatory of the University of Exeter during 2008.
SWOOP originated as an EQUAL project that explored what works in helping older people remain in, or return to the labour market. Translating lessons learned from the EQUAL project into regional policy and practice forms an important part of the new programme of work.
“More than 70 per cent of the 2020 working age population are already over the age of 16. As the global economy changes and working lives lengthen with population ageing, adults will increasingly need to update their skills in the workforce. There is a pressing need to raise the rates of skills improvements among adults – the UK cannot reach a world class ambition by 2020 without this.” - Leitch Review of Skills Final Report.
This work builds on the SWOOP Equal project.
Marchmont Observatory
University of Exeter
Holnicote Annexe
St. Luke's Campus
Exeter
EX1 2LU
T. 01392 264725
F. 01392 264966
E. Hilary Todd
Email the Age Management Group
Terms of reference
SWOOP II is funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and European Social Fund |
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SWOOP aims to conform to W3C World Wide Web Standards. |
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