To ask the Minister for Communities to outline the steps she is taking to boost social inclusion among older people and how the Active Ageing Strategy has been affected by COVID-19.

My Department is supporting the safe return of a wide range of community services and activities that allow people to reconnect, share experiences and reduce the social isolation felt during the pandemic. Funding is being provided for programmes and to specific organisations which have an impact on older people, e.g. People and Place/Neighbourhood Renewal, the Community Support Programme, and Volunteer Now. The Housing Executive is also delivering initiatives to address isolation and encourage social inclusion among older people including via Supporting People housing-related support services.

The Active Ageing Strategy was extended and refreshed, with Executive approval, to cover the period 2016-2022. The refreshed Strategy builds on and updates the original actions from 2016 and adds further actions to improve the wellbeing of older people, including actions focused on mitigating the medium to- longer term effects of Covid-19 on the older population.

The Strategy is currently being evaluated with input from a range of internal and external stakeholders in preparation for the development of a new strategy from May 2022.