§ Mr. Andrew BowdenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to enable some civil servants to remain in employment until the age of 70 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderMy Department will shortly be implementing one of the recommendations of an interdepartmental working group set up to consider ways of alleviating the effect of the forecast demographic changes to the work force in the 1990s. The decision to raise the maximum age at which civil servants retire from 65 to 70 will give Departments greater flexibility in meeting their staffing needs through the employment of older workers. My Department has also recently removed the upper age limits on recruitment for all service wide grades.