Employees Over 60 (Hansard, 30 July 1998)

§ Mr. Chope
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many(a) men and (b) women aged over 60 years were employed by (i) his Department and (ii) his Department's agencies on 1 January. [53051]

§ Mr. Andrew Smith
As at 1 January 1998, 31 men and 17 women aged 60 and over were employed by the Department. In the case of the Employment Service, figures are not readily available from Personnel Systems for 1 January, but can be provided from data collected at 10 March 1998. At this point, some 72 men and 186 women aged 60 years and over were employed by the Agency.

§ Mr. Chope
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many(a) men and (b) women employed by (1) his Department and (2) his Department's agencies have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60th birthday. [53052]

§ Mr. Mudie
Where a clear business need for any member of the Department or its Agencies to continue beyond age 60 exists, and providing that individual meets the necessary criteria for fitness and effectiveness, that member of staff may be enabled to continue beyond their 60th birthday. Only members of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) have contracts of employment which provide specifically for them to retire at 60 years of age, but 60 is also the normal minimum retirement age for all members of the Department and its Agencies. The terms and conditions of all members of the Department and its Agencies thus provide for staff to retire after their 60th birthday—in the case of the Senior Civil Service, only with the agreement of their Permanent Head of Department.
Total numbers of Senior Civil Service members in the Department are (a) 79 men and (b) 22 women. In the Employment Service, there are (a) 25 men and (b) 7 women members of the SCS. [There are also (a) 10 men and (b) 1 woman SCS members in Government Offices.]
Total numbers of staff in the Department (including the Senior Civil Service and Government Offices) are (a) 1,945 men and (b) 2,125 women; and in the Employment Service, (a) 9,541 men and (b) 23,987 women.