§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the retirement ages that apply to the employees of his Department and its agencies, including how many and which categories of employees are affected by each; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on flexible retirement. [32829]
§ Dr. MoonieTwo-thirds of the Ministry of Defence's civilian work force of some 90,000 employees, mainly support, technical and industrial grades, have the options to retire at any time between 60 and 65. The remainder, most of whom are in managerial, professional and technical grades, have a normal retirement age of 60. Following the publication of the Government's Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment the MOD, like other Government Departments, has been reviewing its retirement policy and we expect to announce the findings in the next few weeks.
MOD uses the full range of options for flexible retirement which are available under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme to meet its business needs and in response to the individual preferences of employees where this is possible.