Housing and inequalities: is the UK institutionally ageist?

Director of Communications and Influencing at Centre for Ageing Better

Louise leads the Communications team at Centre for Ageing Better and has a background in health communications, social policy and local services.

She was previously Director of Prevention of Type 2 diabetes at Diabetes UK where she was also Director of Communications between 2011-2014.

She has worked on communications and campaigns for a range of UK and international organisations dealing with health, social policy, and local services, including several years as Head of Communications at Lambeth Council, and as a media specialist at Which? Magazine, the Food Standards Agency, and the Health Education Authority.

She joined Ageing Better in June 2016 and is passionate about using communications to help improve lives.

Chief Executive of the Race Equality Foundation

Jabeer has gained an international reputation for the use of evidence in developing interventions that help overcome discrimination and disadvantage. His studies have been used to inform government thinking, including interventions such as Sure Start, as well as the NSPCC’s Grove House Family Centre.

Jabeer provides leadership on the Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities parent education initiative at the Foundation. The SFSC programme has been widely adopted, in part because of its success in reaching, retaining and supporting poorly served families and communities. Jabeer also leads on health and housing work at the Foundation, with the publications of a number of critically acclaimed evidence-based briefing papers on aspects of health and housing.

A key part of his work is the Foundation’s role in the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, which has seen the Foundation facilitate better conversations between the black and minority ethnic-led voluntary sector and Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England. This has been combined with ensuring that consideration for race equality, equality as a whole, and health inequalities play a part in the transformation of health and social care.

Jabeer was on the advisory board of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act. Jabeer sits on a number of other boards and committees and presently this includes the Dementia Programme Board, chaired by the Minister for Care, as well as the Marmot Advisory Group supporting Sir Michael Marmot in the production of new report on the social determinants of health inequalities.

Jabeer is currently co-investigator on a £1.5 million NIHR funded randomised control trial of the Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities parent programme being led by Professor Richard Watt at University College London. He is also currently a member of the team led by Professor Liddy Goyder of Sheffield University producing public health evidence reviews funded by NIHR’s public health programme.

Jabeer was awarded an OBE in the 2013 Queen’s New Year Honours List.

Professor of Housing Studies, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University

Professor Ian Cole is Professor of Housing Studies at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University. He has undertaken research, taught and published on a wide range of housing policy issues, especially relating to the social housing sector. His most recent papers are on the financialisation of the housing association sector and the housebuilding industry. Ian has advised a number of government select committees on housing issues – in the past year, this has included the inquiries into land reform and into the long term delivery of social and affordable rented housing. Ian is Chair of South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA), an organisation with a strong emphasis on its social mission which provides 6,000 homes in the local area. Around half of SYHA’s services are devoted to providing social care and supported housing. Over the past five years, SYHA has pioneered a number of acclaimed initiatives in this field, in line with its commitment to enable all its customers to live well, settle at home and realise their potential.  

Assistant Professor, Department of Geography at University of Nottingham

Nigel de Noronha works as an Assistant Professor in the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham. He completed his PhD in Social Statistics at the University of Manchester in 2016 then worked as a Teaching Fellow in the department of Sociology at the University of Warwick until June 2018. He has extensive experience of working with census and survey data to explore the housing experiences of people living in the UK.

His research interests are on social inequalities with a specific focus on housing, race and migration. His PhD explores the growth of the private rented sector in England, the effect on different types of household, feeling at ‘home’ and spatial polarisation. He has also published articles and briefings on housing, race and migration; housing policy and race, housing and ageing. He previously worked for the Audit Commission, which regulated local government, health and criminal justice agencies as a Performance Auditor. His specialisms were in partnership working, equality, social cohesion, performance information and civil society.

Principal Research Fellow, School of Allied Health and Community at University of Worcester

Dr Simon Evans is a Principal Research Fellow with the Association for Dementia Studies. Simon has developed a portfolio of research projects that spans a wide range of topics including housing, health, social care, the arts, assistive technology, care homes and communities. His role includes applying for research funding, managing a team of researchers, and ensuring that research findings are disseminated to key audiences. He has published widely, including ‘Community and Ageing’, a book that focuses on maintaining quality of life in housing with care settings.

Simon was awarded a BSc in Psychology in 1980 and worked in the NHS as an administrator before moving to academia in 2001. After a brief spell at the University of Bath he moved to the University of the West of England in 2003, where he achieved a PhD in 2010, and joined the Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester in 2011.

Head of the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham and Professor of Health and Social Care

A qualified social worker by background, he is involved in regular research, teaching, consultancy and policy advice around health and social care partnerships, community care and personalisation.

He is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Integrated Care and a Non-Executive Director of University Hospitals Birmingham and of the Birmingham Children’s Trust.

He has provided policy advice to the Department of Health, the Cabinet Office and Downing Street on the future of health and social services, and from 2003 to 2009 was a trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

He is a Senior Fellow of the UK School for Social Care Research, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Western Australia. From 2008 to 2015, he was Director of the University of Birmingham’s Health Services Management Centre (HSMC).

Chief Executive of Care England and Chair at International Longevity Centre - UK

Martin Green has had an extensive career in NGO development, both in the UK and internationally, and is Chief Executive of Care England, the largest representative body for independent social care services in the UK. He is also Chair of the International Longevity Centre, a Trustee of Independent Age, Vice President of The Care Workers Charity, and a Champion of The National Aids Trust.

In 2013 he was appointed Visiting Professor of Social Care to Buckinghamshire New University.

In 2012, in his role as Department of Health Independent Sector Dementia Champion, he led the development of the Dementia Care and Support Compact for The Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

In 2008 he was named care personality of the year and was awarded an OBE for Services to Social Care in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In 2019 he was presented with the Health Investor Outstanding Contribution award.

Martin Green writes and broadcasts extensively on social care issues and is on the Editorial Board of Community Care Market News and Care Talk magazine.

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Chair of the Board, Housing 21

Stephen has extensive local government experience having been the Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council and Interim Chief Executive at Bristol City Council. He is a qualified accountant and also a member of the Institute of Customer Service. In his role as Chair of the Board at Housing 21, Stephen brings insight into strategic financial planning and management as well as delivering first class customer services in the housing and social care environment and knowledge and experience of PFI projects.

Chief Executive, erosh

Erosh champions quality housing and support for older people and provides a variety of policy and practical good practice resources to support staff working in sheltered and retirement housing, as well as its own Code of Practice enabling both sheltered and supported housing providers to demonstrate the quality of accommodation and services against nationally recognised standards.

Rebecca has worked in the housing sector for over 30 years and is now a freelance consultant. She is a qualified teacher with a postgraduate diploma in housing. Previous key roles include Deputy Director at the Centre for Housing and Support (CHS) and Training Manager at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Rebecca is a CIH Fellow, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a Chwarae Teg mentor; and has previously been a board member at Rooftop Housing. Rebecca currently tutors on a variety of CIH learning programmes.

Director, Partners4Change

Sam is an experienced health and social care manager who has held a variety of senior positions in the sector. He qualified in social work and holds an MBA. Sam is passionate about supporting people to live their lives well and making sure that health and care systems place this at the heart of all that they do. For the past ten years he has provided support to Councils across the UK as the Director of Partners4Change, P4C.

Sam and P4C have led the development and co-design of The Three Conversations® as a new approach to health and social care – focussing on people and their lives, rather than assessment, documents and processes. More than 35 councils across the UK have worked with P4C to develop their own The Three Conversations® approach. This approach seeks to prove through a wide range of compelling evidence that The Three Conversations® is better for people and families, better for workers who become much more motivated and productive, and better for the budget.

Senior Fellow at The King's Fund and Visiting Professor at the University of Worcester

Richard is Senior Fellow at The King's Fund and Visiting Professor at the University of Worcester. He is a recognised national commentator and writer on social care reform and the integration of health and social care. A graduate of LSE, his professional background is social work, and he has worked in a variety of roles, including as a director of social services and health authority chief executive and in senior roles in the Department of Health. Richard is a non-executive director of Wye Valley NHS Trust.

Challenge Director, Healthy Ageing, UK Research and Innovation

George MacGinnis leads the £98 million Healthy Ageing research and innovation challenge, part of the UK Government’s Ageing Society Grand Challenge mission to ensure that people can enjoy at least 5 extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest. He has a varied background in health and care innovation including recent work on the future capacity needs for a reformed health and social care system in the Republic of Ireland, a review of the impact on the NHS of Small Business Research Initiative in Healthcare, a landscape review of the MedTech sector for the Academic Health Science Networks and leading the user group for a global industry alliance to enable a consumer-friendly market for digital wellness and health products and services through standards and accreditation.

Chief Executive, Housing 21

Bruce joined Housing 21 as Chief Executive in 2013. Before that, Bruce was Chief Executive for Hanover Housing Group and had previously been Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Homes and Deputy Chief Executive of Anchor Trust.

Bruce’s early career was as an in-house lawyer and he is a qualified solicitor, but he has spent more than 20 years leading change and seeking to improve the provision of housing and care for older people. Bruce has served as a board member for a number of housing associations and charities.

He completed a PhD considering the differences in attitudes and expectation of the governance role of boards of housing associations in 2017 and is now studying for a further PhD on the priorities and preferences of residents of Retirement and Extra Care Housing.

Chief Executive, Housing LIN

Jeremy was formerly National Lead for Housing at the Department of Health responsible for the Extra Care Housing capital programme.

After leaving the department, he founded the independent Housing LIN (Learning and Improvement Network), bringing together over 25,000 housing, health and social care practitioners in England, Wales and Scotland to identify and showcase innovative housing solutions for an ageing population.

The Housing LIN’s free knowledge and information sharing activities, along with its consultancy business, provide market insight and intelligence on latest funding, research, policy and practice to inspire better housing and care choices.

Jeremy is Inquiry Secretariat and author of the influential HAPP12, HAPPI3 and HAPPI4 reports for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People. He also co-authored RIBA’s 2018 publication: Age Friendly Housing: Future design for older people.

Jeremy was a member of the Welsh Government’s Expert Group on Housing an Ageing Population and contributed to the recent University of Stirling report, Housing and Ageing: Linking strategy to future delivery for Scotland, Wales and England 2030.

Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield

David is Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. Previously, he was Director of the Centre for Regional and Economic Research at Sheffield Hallam University. David has been actively engaged in housing research for more than 25 years, leading projects for a range of funders, including Whitehall departments and devolved administrations. He recently served as a managing editor of the academic journal Housing Studies and served for four years as a member of Homes England’s Equality and Diversity Board Advisory Group. He jointly leads the housing choices theme on the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), a multidisciplinary collaboration between academia, housing policy and practice (see housingevidence.ac.uk). His current CaCHE projects include research exploring mechanisms of exclusion from adequate housing in the contemporary housing system. His most recent publication, in the International Journal of Housing Policy, explores the housing options of older people in England and reveals the gap between the ambitions of policy and realities of provision at the local level.

Chief Executive, Peabody

Brendan is Chief Executive of Peabody, a housing association owning and managing 67,000 homes in London and the South East. Peabody is a landlord, property developer (building over 2,500 homes per annum), care provider, investor in communities, and is even building a new town at Thamesmead in south east London. It has a turnover of £650m per annum; makes a profit of £168m per annum and invests a further £300m per annum into new homes. It employs 3,000 people.

Brendan has worked in housing all of his professional life and sees housing associations as a great model for delivering a social purpose. He sees his role as the guardian of the values and the vision of the organisation whilst delivering excellent homes and services at prices people can afford. Brendan is a campaigner for the needs of ordinary Londoners and the importance of diversity in the city.

Brendan graduated from Leeds in 1982 with a degree in Architectural Engineering.

Director of Foundations - National Body for Home Improvement Agencies

Paul Smith is on a mission to improve how home adaptations are provided. Trained as a Building Surveyor, he has a unique 25 year background in building design, grant administration, policy development and commissioning. Winner of multiple national awards he has introduced a number of innovations that improved the customer experience.

Paul is now the Director of Foundations, the national body for Home Improvement Agencies in England. In 2018 he was a key part of the team that undertook an independent review of Disabled Facilities Grants for the UK Government.

Katey has worked for many years within social care in partnership with housing and health services. She is enthusiastic about getting the best for people by understanding their experiences and needs, and developing effective services with partner organisations. She completed a Doctoral Research study in the possibilities and practicalities of people living with dementia in extra care housing and is a research associate at the Centre for Loneliness Studies at the University of Sheffield. She is an associate consultant at the Housing Learning and Improvement Network and supported SCIE in the update of their Dementia and Housing guidance this year.

Executive Director of the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO)

ARCO is the representative body for housing-with-care providers for older people in the UK. Michael set up ARCO on behalf of its founding members in 2012, and is a regular contributor to parliamentary inquiries, sector conferences and the press. ARCO’s work is focused on tackling issues around regulation and policy, self-regulation, public awareness and supply of high quality retirement communities. Prior to ARCO, Michael worked as a public sector consultant and as a journalist.

Director of Education and Engagement at Stonewall Housing

Tina is the Director of Education and Engagement for Stonewall Housing and a member of the senior management team .She is responsible for Stonewall Housing’s national work. These include facilitating national LGBT projects, writing about LGBT housing for various publications and academic journals and coordinating Stonewall Housing’s networks. Tina is responsible for Stonewall Housing’s training team and develops and facilitates training on several LGBT issues for providers and Local Authorities. She is also responsible for the Inclusion Standard, a kite mark for Housing Providers

She held the role of coordinator of the housing network for 6 years where her role included raising the profile of the Housing Situation for Older LGBT people at a national, regional and local level. Tina leads on the new MCHLG commissioned LGBT homelessness training package.