ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the policy context for lifelong learning with particular attention to how this policy agenda is relevant to older people. It concerns how the evidence for the promotion of lifelong learning has extended to issues in later life and takes an overview of the active work undertaken in trying to take this forward. The chapter attempts to investigate the fit' between policy imperatives and strategic issues and at the evidence that throws light on how older people's learning needs are accommodated particularly at an early stage of implementing a more personalised approach. Whilst the Carnegie Inquiry identified the need for more appropriate learning provision for older people, advocacy organisations, such as National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), documented their subsequent decline in participation. Learning in later life can be understood as a product of interaction between the different policies, but an iterative process is needed where coherent interpretation of policy is central.
