§ Mr. Wallaceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received in support of a flexible decade of retirement from the age of 55 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that the information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because most of the 7,000 or so replies received covered a number of different points and the Green Paper specifically sought views on a flexible decade of retirement between the ages of 60 and 70.
The response to the suggestion for a decade of retirement was largely favourable, but, as we made clear in our White Paper, there were no suggestions as to how this might be achieved without unacceptably high initial cost. We shall, nevertheless, continue to examine possible ways of achieving a flexible decade of retirement between the ages of 60 and 70.