Anna B

I hope you are right and he is able to continue living at home. It all depends on the next few years and his health. If he's 96 and his health deteriorates, his children will probably be in their 70's so will not be in a position to look after him.

I have no idea of what went wrong there....

More people are living into their nineties these days, and find it difficult to live alone. Quite often it's the little things that mean you have to go into care homes, like arthritis in the hands and fingers, so not able to open jars and bottles (even with aids,) use hands to go to the toilet, or able to fasten buttons on clothes, put socks on etc. Yes home help is available to help with these things but that too is very expensive, and the clients are very much at the mercy of the visiting care worker's time table. Yes, there are a few 90 year olds toughing it out, but it's quite unusual for people in their nineties to live alone at home, even if they are relatively healthy. Dementia is also more prevalent as we age and can strike quite young (which is why people think it is an illness rather than 'an illness of old age.') It can be quite mild such as having a poor memory (which becomes more of a hindrance in a digital age) or severe, but it makes living alone very problematic. I don't know what the population of over 80s is, but According to statistics, half a million people were in care homes in 2023 and places are in short supply. Only personal experience, and volutary work. g into their nineties With a large extended family, I have had quite a lot of experience of care homes over the years. Everybody dies of something and only a lucky few die peacefully in their sleep with no history/knowledge of a fatal illness beforehand. If that fatal illness requires hospitalisation then the doctors decide whether the patient is fit / capable of looking after themselves and going home. I've seen a 71 year old man crying with horror and disbelief at not being allowed back into his own home after a broken hip because he was at risk of falling... Hospitals don't have the beds available for convalescence, so they have to go to care homes. It only takes a few weeks in a home for them to become incapable of coming out again. Carehomes cost an average of £1,000 per week. Looking after a seriously ill, old person at home is difficult and exhausting to say the least. Just getting them to the toilet, or to bed can be quite a job in itself, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Bearing in mind sons, daughters, spouses of said old person can themselves be in their 70s or 80s and probably with their own health issues and therefore not capable of lifting / moving a full size adult, (in hospital it takes 4 nurses to legally lift a person up a bed,) sooner or later the elderly person has to go into care, at a cost of £52,000 per year average, the care often leaves a lot to be desired. To get the care paid for by the state is a long, laborious, and difficult process. Families are often called upon to 'sponsor' a relative, in other words pay the fees if they default (ie, run out of money.) The person has to be vi

The local authority would seem to be the people to ask, or perhaps citizen's advice. Is there still a bedroom tax?

Only personal experience, and volutary work. With a large extended family, I have had quite a lot of experience of care homes over the years. Everybody dies of something and only a lucky few die peacefully in their sleep with no history/knowledge of a fatal illness beforehand. If that fatal illness requires hospitalisation then the doctors decide whether the patient is fit / capable of looking after themselves and going home. I've seen a 71 year old man crying with horror and disbelief at not being allowed back into his own home after a broken hip because he was at risk of falling... Hospitals don't have the beds available for convalescence, so they have to go to care homes. It only takes a few weeks in a home for them to become incapable of coming out again. Carehomes cost an average of £1,000 per week. Looking after a seriously ill, old person at home is difficult and exhausting to say the least. Just getting them to the toilet, or to bed can be quite a job in itself, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Bearing in mind sons, daughters, spouses of said old person can themselves be in their 70s or 80s and probably with their own health issues and therefore not capable of lifting / moving a full size adult, (in hospital it takes 4 nurses to legally lift a person up a bed,) sooner or later the elderly person has to go into care, at a cost of £52,000 per year average, the care often leaves a lot to be desired. To get the care paid for by the state is a long, laborious, and difficult process. Families are often called upon to 'sponsor' a relative, in other words pay the fees if they default (ie, run out of money.) The person has to be virtyally destitute to get their care paid for.

More than you think. And it could be you. All it takes is an illness, accident, arthritis, stroke, dementia, and any number of ailments that beset the ancient. Remember people are living longer but not necessarily healthier, just longer for more things to go wrong. Hospitals don't want to know, but often won't let the patient go home, they insist they move on to a carehome. And it always always ends in death - eventually. But Just 3 or 4 years in a carehome is enough to clean most residents (and/or their family) out, both house and savings. A Nursing home costs even more.

Which they are living in, (and still paying council tax etc for) so no extra income coming in. And which will all have to be sold to pay carehome fees. It would be a bit of an embarrassment for the overnment to have thousands of pensioners wandering about homeless.

Yer think...? They may have got an inflation payrise, but that's a small percentage of a small amount so most pensioners still only get about £8,500 a year to live on. Not exactly a fortune is it? Still the lowest pension in Europe.

Probably not, but at least Sun readers know they're reading the equivalent of a grown up's comic.

Sadly, there are plenty of readers of the Daily Mail that still believe every word. They think it's a serious newspaper.

Fine. Keep on missing the chance of bargains for the sake of a few quid. Doesn't matter how long the waiting list gets and who cares about housing the homeless?

Someone ought to tell the council to always set their limits at 10% over the nearest round figure as it's well known that many bidders set their limit and drop out on the rounded numbers. (eg £500,000) as in this case. It's a good tactic that will aquire them more properties in the future.

Also usually known as 'exploitation.' However IMO you are correct in thinking that they benefitted a local area by bringing enough wealth to improve it. Seeking public renown (and immortallity,) slave traders commissioned buildings and public facilities such as parks and open spaces, grand houses, libraries, meeting halls etc. and enough business accumen to assure that we all benefitted to be living in a wealthy rather than a poor country. They sowed the beginnings of the British Empire. Heinous as it may be, we in the West all benefitted to some degree from Slavery. IMO it's rather hypocritical to think otherwise.

I agree. I also want to see measurable results proving value for money.

I would imagine (but don't know) that a smart phone for a 7 year old would be very different from an adult smart phone. What 7 year old wants a small hand held black box that only does grown up things? I imagine it to be more colourful and accident proof than the adult version, perhaps with a simple phone that can be restricted by the parents to only allow family phone calls etc. I also see it having a mixture of fun and educational games, fun facts, a mixture of music and songs, and information / podcasts, suitable to the age group, plus a creative space for drawing, designing, and, well, creating. Schools have something called the Intranet which is a child friendly version of the internet, and any number of age appropriate learning games. 4 year old Tots in reception class start using computers almost from day 1 as a learning activity. I would imagine smart phones could be built to do the same.