§ 7. Mr. Summersasked the Minister of National Insurance what steps he is taking to find out what effect the National Insurance pension conditions are having in persuading people to remain at work beyond the minimum age of retirement.
§ Mr. PeakeIn consultation with the National Advisory Committee on the Employment of Older Men and Women set up by my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service an inquiry is about to be made, through my local offices, on a sample basis to see what information can be obtained about the reasons which lead people to retire or to continue at work after reaching minimum pension age.
The inquiry is entirely voluntary, but we hope that the people approached will agree to co-operate and thus enable us to obtain worthwhile information on this important subject. Personal details supplied by individuals will, of course, be treated as strictly confidential.
§ Mr. SummersIs my hon. Friend aware that that information will be widely welcomed? Could he say whether the samples to which he refers will be taken from all parts of the country, with difference conditions prevailing?
§ Mr. PeakeWe are making a start in two areas very shortly. I have no doubt that the inquiry will gradually be extended to a wider area. We shall bear in mind the point which my hon. Friend has made.
§ Mr. GibsonWill this inquiry also take into account the growing difficulty which men between 45 and 65 experience in getting employment, and the repercussion of that problem on the point raised in the Question?
§ Mr. PeakeThis inquiry will be limited to the purpose I have described—that is to say, trying to find out the reasons which determine whether a man shall retire or remain in work.