This week, Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve writes exclusively to BFP readers:

Having recently visited one of the Abbeyfield supported living facilities in my constituency, I was delighted to be asked to meet residents and hear their views about their shared home.

This is a large house which has been adapted to enable the people who live there to live independent lives, whilst being able to enjoy meals together or join in with group activities and entertainment.

It is a welcoming place to live, with help available should they need it. This visit made me think about the range of choices which face people, since the UK has an ageing population.

In July 2017, the Office of National Statistics released information about the percentage of the population who are currently aged 65 or over – 18 per cent.

This is projected to rise to 24.7 per cent of the population by 2047. Age UK, in a report on later life in the UK published in August, illustrated this with information about the numbers of people aged over 65 and how this is likely to increase.

At present there are 11.8 million aged over 65, but this is likely to rise to more than 16 million by 2034. The number of people aged over 85 is forecast to double, to more than 3.4 million.

There are more than half a million people aged over 90. There are now more than 14,500 people in the UK who are aged 100 and that represents an increase of 65 per cent since 2007.

In practical terms most people are not going to be as fit and robust as they are earlier in life, so it is not tempting fate to think about all the options.

Many people can and indeed do enjoy living in their own home, with support from family or carers, but it is always worth taking a moment to identify independent sources of information about the possibilities.

The NHS website is a good starting point and so is the information available from the Care Quality Commission.

The quality of care for older people is something in which we all have a stake.