§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination. [109443]
§ Dr. HowellsThe Department is committed to equal opportunities for all and had already incorporated age into its equal opportunities policy prior to the "Winning the Generation Game" report. The Department is in the process of implementing the final recommendation of the report, with the introduction of a flexible retirement age for those between 60 and 65 years. Action on diversity has and will continue to tackle any negative attitudes towards older staff particularly through the training and development of managers and through the monitoring of recruitment, selection and appraisal statistics.