European Year of Older People (Hansard, 14 December 1994)

§ Miss Widdecombe

In 1994, the Employment Department has supported the initiatives stemming from the European year of older people and solidarity between generations through the continuation of the campaign to promote the interests of older workers.

In March a booklet was released, aimed at employers, to reinforce the message that age has no bearing on the ability to do a good job. It was distributed to 16,500 employers whose work force exceeded 75 employees. The press coverage was widespread and continues to generate interest from employers, researchers and individuals. Over 5,000 requests have been received to date.

The Department has been involved with workshops and seminars run by bodies involve with, and who campaign for older workers. I attended seminars at the Policy Studies Institute, the Department's regional office in Bristol and a Carnegie Third Age symposium, the theme of all three being to persuade to employers to take a positive attitude towards older workers.

Recently, I visited People of Previous Experience, a European conference held in Bradford, and the Mature Workers Register in Bournemouth, two initiatives engaged in finding jobs for older workers in their local areas.

This year, research commissioned by the Department was published, which consisted of a comprehensive review of employment policies and practices toward older workers in 22 countries. These comprise all EU member states, plus 11 other countries worldwide. Further research has been commissioned, comprising a more detailed overview of policies and practices in France, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

It is planned to release a booklet for individuals which will contain advice and information about job seeking specifically aimed at older workers.

Plans are also under way to hold a series of regional seminars which will disseminate good practice in the employment of older workers among locally invited employers.