§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's policy is towards age discrimination. [42573]
§ Dr. John ReidIt is the policy of the Northern Ireland Office that all eligible persons shall have equal opportunity for employment and advancement solely on the basis of their ability, qualifications and aptitude for the work. The Department promotes an equal opportunities policy whereby no employee or job applicant is unfairly discriminated against on a number of grounds, including age. Staff joining the Department receive, as part of their induction, a mandatory half-day equal opportunities awareness session which explains their responsibilities under the policy and addresses negative stereotypical attitudes towards people, including on the basis of age.
Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 places a statutory duty on public authorities to have due regard to the promotion of equality of opportunity for persons in nine separate categories, one of which is age. In 39W accordance with its commitments under Section 75, the Department has undertaken an extensive screening exercise to examine all its policies against all the categories, including age.