Dispatches has discovered that the government, despite its promises, is failing the elderly across Britain. With energy prices soaring, its provision to make sure that they’re warm and properly cared for in winter is becoming more and more inadequate. At the same time it is impoverishing the elderly and their families, who increasingly have to pay for basic social services.

Dispatches reveals what life is like for elderly men and women forced to live on today’s state pension and deal with the complexities of the government’s means-tested benefits to keep body and soul together.

Monday 4 February 2008
8:00pm