§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 4 March 2002,Official Report, column 28W, on age discrimination, how much money has been allocated to the Age Positive Campaign; how many (a) companies, (b) academic institutions and (c) research or lobby organisations have signed up to the campaign; how many workers are employed by the companies that have signed up to the campaign; how many companies expect to sign up to the campaign; how he monitors organisations that have signed up to comply with the campaign; how many people are employed to monitor organisations that have signed to comply with the campaign; and how many companies have been removed from the Age Positive Campaign after being found to be not maintaining the campaign's code. [41842]
§ Maria Eagle[holding answer 12 March 2002]: The Age Positive budget for 2001–02 is £1 million and is used to develop and promote the business case for non-ageist employment practices to all employers and individuals across Great Britain.
Those who wish to actively support the Age Positive campaign do not formally sign up to it. They are encouraged to provide positive case studies and may apply to become age positive champions. To become an age positive champion, a potential applicant must submit strong evidence of commitment to age positive practice. Officials of this Department vet applications from potential champions.
Organisations that do not have in place a wide enough range of age positive practices to be accepted as champions are still often able to provide useful case studies illustrating particular age positive aspects of their employment policies. Age positive champions play a vital role in the campaign. By promoting their own best practice and highlighting the practical business benefits of a mixed age workforce they encourage other employers and individuals to tackle age discrimination in the workplace. There are currently 32 age positive champions and around 50 case studies, although both figures are steadily increasing. The newest feature of the campaign is the age positive website www.agepositive.gov.uk