§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate the Government have made of the cost of age discrimination to the UK economy in each year since 1997. [186927]
§ Jacqui SmithThe DTI has not made an estimate of the cost of age discrimination to the UK economy. A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) accompanied the July 2003 'Age Matters' consultation on proposals for legislation to outlaw age discrimination in employment and vocational training. It estimated that, excluding the positive impact of a likely increase in the labour supply, the economy would benefit by about £600 million over the first 10 years of the legislation taking effect. The RIA is available on: www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/age.htm As far as the impact of an increase in the labour supply is concerned, "Winning the Generation Game" (Performance and Innovation Unit, April 2000, www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/2000/wirining/generation.pdf) on the impact of ageing on the economy put the cost of early and involuntary exit from the labour market at about £16 billion each year. Some of this is attributable to age discrimination.