§ 18. Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the impact of the Government's employment policies for older people. [127937]
§ Ms JowellWe are making progress in this area. The Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment, launched last year, has been widely welcomed. In the first two months since the national launch of New Deal 50 Plus, over 4,000 older people have returned to work and drawn on the Employment Credit. We are evaluating the impact of these initiatives. Overall, employment levels of older people rose by 2.4 per cent. and unemployment fell by 13.3 per cent. since last year.