Lords take evidence from Office for Budget Responsibility representatives and Economic Experts

They heard from a panel of experts including Dr Martin Weale, External Member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and part-time professor at Queen Mary University of London and Tom Josephs, Head of Staff at the Office for Budget Responsibility.

• Parliament TV: Public Service and Demographic Change
• Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change

Witnesses

At 10am, Tuesday 23 October 2012, Committee Room 2a, Palace of Westminster

• Tom Josephs, Head of Staff, Office for Budget Responsibility
• Kayte Lawton, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Public Policy Research
• Dr Martin Weale, External Member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and part-time professor at Queen Mary University of London
• Professor James Sefton – Professor of Economics, Imperial College London

Kayte Lawton, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and James Sefton, Professor of Economics at Imperial College, London also gave evidence.

The Committee quizzed the witnesses on how the political demands of an ageing society, including a growing number of older voters, can be balanced with a need to take tough decisions about the state’s funding of services for the elderly.

Their aim is to consider whether the Government should deal with an ageing society by reining in the costs of public services; reducing demand for public services; increasing employment among older people by raising the retirement age; or raising more money through tax – or by other solutions.

The Committee asked how the Government should respond to the Dilnot report, which proposed a cap of £35,000 on the amount people should pay for care costs out of their own pockets. The Committee is interested in whether accepting these recommendations would risk creating dangerous future spending commitments, or whether they can be afforded.