The Pensioners Parliament met in Blackpool in June 2017 for its annual conference. It is run by a body called the “National Pensioners Convention (NPC)”. The NPC was set up way back in 1978 at the Trades Union Congress when it was realised that no single body existed to represent older people on issues such as: subsidised public transport, tv licences, rising heating costs, Christmas payments and the costs of social care.
The main aim was to ensure that pensioner incomes were linked to average earnings so that older people would have an income which would not fall behind to the wider workforce. Initially it was backed by the TUC but in 1988 the National Pensioners Convention became a separate and independent body.
The Pensioners Parliament was created in April 1992 by the NPC and first met in Birmingham. It now meets each year for a 2 day conference to discuss issues of importance to older age groups. Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) commentated “it is great to see that a number people from the Chorley Pensioners Association attended the Blackpool event on the 6/7th June.
It is quite clear that we have an ageing population in this country and the voices of older people are becoming ever more vocal. In addition it is widely stated that a lot of the country’s wealth is held by people over 65 years old so they also hold a great deal of economic power as well. This means those in power will have to listen to organisations such as the NPC if they want to retain political power. This is particularly relevant at General Election time!”
