§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what inter-departmental discussions he has conducted to prohibit age discrimination in the civil service; [24996]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of age discrimination legislation in Canada and New Zealand; [24999]
(3) what discussions (a) have been held or (b) are proposed to be held by his Department with employers' organisations on age bars on young and older people. [24995]
565W
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Government are firmly committed to countering discrimination on age grounds in the workplace. I launched a campaign in 1993 to highlight the unfairness of such discrimination. As part of the campaign the Employment Department published in 1994 a booklet, "Getting On", aimed specifically at employers. It urges them to recruit on merit and drop age bars in job vacancies. A series of regional seminars is currently spreading this message among locally invited employers and their organisations.
Staff in Employment Service jobcentres have been given clear guidance to challenge employers over restrictive upper and lower age limits and to try to persuade them to consider all jobseekers on merit.
Responsibility for promoting equality of opportunity in the civil service, in particular in the areas of gender, race and disability, but including age discrimination, lies with the Office of Public Service and Science. Civil service policy is that all eligible people have equal opportunities for employment and advancement on the basis of their suitability. A 1990 ruling not to set age limits on recruitment was extended in 1994 to cover those adverts which give preferred age ranges of applicants. This enables the civil service to benefit from the skills, experience and commitment which older workers can offer. Discrimination on grounds of age alone is now permitted only in exceptional circumstances—for example where there are statutory requirements, and with the prior consent of OPSS.
In June 1994, the Employment Department published a report entitled "An International Overview of Employment Policies and Practices Towards Older Workers", research series No. 29, containing research into the policies and practices towards older workers in 22 countries, including Canada and New Zealand. The research found no evidence that anti-discrimination legislation has been successful in improving either the economic activity rates of older workers or their employment prospects. A copy of the report is available in the Library.