MENTAL health, pensions, funeral poverty and care for the elderly are top of the agenda today as hundreds of older people gather at Holyrood for a major event marking their contribution to the Scotland’s democracy.

The Scottish Older People’s Assembly (SOPA) will be holding its eighth national assembly with the debate leading to actions that influence and shape policy and service planning and implementation at the Scottish Parliament.

The key topics for debate reflect the issues raised during SOPA’s 16 meetings this year from Dumfries to Orkney including the improved quality of life for older people in a home and at home through community links and the negative impact of major changes to the state pension.

The morning session will be chaired by Presiding Officer Ken Mackintosh MSP with speeches by SOPA’s chairman Tom Berney, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s health and sport Committee Neil Findlay MSP, Minister for Social Security Jeane Freeman and John McCormick, Commissioner for Parliamentary Reform.

SOPA’s Tom Berney, said: “The assembly is the culmination of the local meetings we have held with older people all round Scotland. The Assembly in the Debating Chamber gives them the opportunity to hear from, and engage with key parliamentary decision makers on the full range of issues affecting us. We’re looking forward to a lively and influential day.”

The afternoon session will be chaired by MSP Christina McKelvie, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s equalities and human rights committee, and later on there will be an interactive session between SOPA delegates and health and sport committee members tackling the question: “What measures do you believe could help to achieve the reduction of ill health and health inequalities by encouraging preventative actions?”

Macintosh said: “The voices of older people in Scotland need to be heard here in Holyrood, and in this case we are going to ensure they are heard in the debating chamber itself.

“Over the last 17 years, laws made at the Scottish Parliament have had a direct impact on the lives of older people in our society and Holyrood’s influence is set to increase further with the devolution of new powers. I hope that this forum gives both older people and our Parliament a chance to reflect on how best we should engage and work together, and to hear the views of older people on what they need and want.”

Mental ill health of older people is emerging as a big issue, and as the Scottish Youth Parliament has this as their main concern for young people, SOPA plans to meet them in December to discuss how they can work together.

Since March this year, SOPA has held meetings with older people in Edinburgh, Irvine, Dunfermline, Paisley, Campbeltown, Saltcoats, with veterans in Tranent, Orkney, South Lanarkshire, Galashiels, Dumfries and Women Against State Pension Inequality meeting in Portobello.

COMMENT: TOM BERNEY – THIS NATION'S TROUBLES ARE CAUSED BY FAMILIAR FOES

REGULARLY these days we get a politician ranting on about what a burden old people are and how the country can’t afford us, as if we should humbly apologise for still being alive.

It becomes particularly galling when one like David Willetts emerges from the House of Lords to claim that pensioners are taking money away from younger people, without a hint of embarrassment that he and other peers get paid about twice the weekly old pension just for signing in at said House.

It is true, of course, that our younger people are having it tough these days. My generation was accustomed to the prospect that we could look forward to improving our pay and conditions. Today’s young people are struggling to hold on to what they’ve got and the real value of take-home pay has been steadily dropping for several years. But that has nothing to do with pensioners.

It is due to the deterioration in employment practices. For example, there are now 85,000 people in Scotland (nearly a million in UK) working on zero-hours contracts without basic employment protection. That can be compared to the 120,000 pensioners who are living below the poverty level. But Britain is a rich country, so contrast it with the fact that in 2013, the number of UK millionaires rose to 553,000 and that we are the second highest in the world for super-rich (£100 million and above), while five million people earn less than the living wage. It becomes clear the division is not between young and old but, as ever, between rich and poor.

The British state pension is one of the lowest on Earth in comparison to earnings. This is no secret. It is detailed in a House of Commons library paper. Our pension ranks 32nd out of 34 OECD countries surveyed. British pensioners are more likely to live in poverty than in 19 other EU countries and as our pension age steadily rises by 2050 to 68 the British will have the highest pension age of any developed country.

As for the effect on society, the reality is that we should all be celebrating a longevity dividend. Older people make a tremendous contribution, and not just by minding grandchildren and holding families together. Twenty-one per cent of people over 65 look after their own parents. Look at most voluntary organisations and you will see a lot of grey hairs, as 42 per cent of all voluntary work in Scotland is done by over 55s. Recently, in Argyll, I learned that 48 per cent of their health care workers are older than 50.

Cardiff Business School has estimated that through taxes, spending, social care and the value of voluntary work, over 65s make a net contribution of £40 billion to the UK economy, which will rise to £77bn by 2030. So, don’t anyone be conned into believing that your granny and granda are the cause of the country’s woes. There is plenty of money available to create a fairer society.

The issue is how it is distributed.