HC Deb 23 July 2004 vol 424 cc803-4W
Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether(a) her Department and (b) agencies for which it is responsible (i) have a set retirement age which applies to all or most personnel and (ii) have a maximum age beyond which applications for employment will not be considered; and what the age is in each case. [186092]

Akin Michael

The normal age at which staff may retire with immediate payment of pension is 60. However, subject to continued organisational need and to their continued efficiency, staff other than those in the senior civil service may elect to stay beyond age 60 subject to a maximum retirement age of 65.

Applications for employment, again for all grades other than the senior civil service, are accepted from those over the age of 60, subject to the maximum retirement age of 65. In real terms this normally means that age 63 or 64 is the maximum age at which staff are recruited. It would be uneconomic, in terms of payback on recruitment and training costs, to recruit closer to the age at which they would be required to retire.

All of the agencies also follow these rules with the exception of the Rural Payments Agency which has undertaken to apply them at the end of its change programme, scheduled for completion by the end of 2004.

Currently the normal age maximum for the senior civil service, as set by the Cabinet Office, is 60.