It’s all shades of grey

While children between 0-15 will decrease by 7.8 per cent and those of working age will fall by 7.1%, the amount of OAP’s will balloon by 25.7% by 2035.

In Glasgow, there is a far more even spread with an increase of 1.5% of children, 13.2% of working adults and 13.6% of pensioners.

The figures were released this week by the National Records of Scotland. The report is based on assumptions about future fertility, mortality and migration between 2010 and 2035.

An East Renfrewshire council spokesman said: “The population information produced by the Registrar General is an invaluable source of information to assist us in planning our services.

“We have long been an area where the population has either increased or remained steady. These figures also show a large increase in older adults which has an impact on the kind of services required in our community.

“This information and other very useful reports by the Registrar General will be examined in detail by our services right across the council.”

In 2035, ERC is projected to have a population of 89,262 — down 0.3%. In neighbouring Glasgow, population is set to increase by 11.3%. in total — above the national average .

In the report, the registrar general stated: “In East Renfrewshire the projected population decline is due to net out-migration despite more births than deaths”.

Maureen Walker, convenor of Age Concern Eaglesham told The Extra: “Thanks to the sheltered housing available and a number of other initiatives, pensioners are very well looked after in East Renfrewshire.

“However, as the population continues to age, I believe the community as a whole should take more responsibility.

“Loneliness is the biggest worry for an elderly person and all it takes is neighbours looking in from time to time”.

A spokesman for Age Scotland said yesterday: “There are opportunities to both meet older people’s needs and make savings to the public purse.

“It costs around four times as much for a residential care home place as a Free Personal Care package, for example, so reshaping services to better enable older people to stay healthy, well and independent in their own home is vitally important”.

Pensioners throughout Scotland are set to rise by a quarter, while the national projections have Scotland’s population rising to a total of 5,755,477 by 2035 — up 10.2 per cent.

The bulk of this will be a product of migration.