Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2016 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

1. What steps the Government are taking to give older workers the support they need to find or stay in work.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

7. What steps the Government are taking to give older workers the support they need to find or stay in work.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Damian Green)]

May I, on behalf of the Government, echo the thoughts about Andy Murray? He is a great Scotsman who has made a great contribution.

There are more older people in employment than ever before, but we know that there is more to do. We recently appointed Andy Briggs, chief executive of Aviva UK, as business champion for older workers to promote the benefits they bring to employers.

[Henry Smith]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. What more are the Government doing to build on the fuller working lives strategy that they launched in 2014?

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend is right to point out the importance of the fuller working lives strategy. We will be publishing a new strategy in the new year to build on the success of the fuller working lives strategy, and that will set out its future direction. I am particularly keen that it should be led by employers, because I think that employers are the best people to persuade other employers of the benefits of employing older workers. That is true for the employers themselves and for individuals, and it is particularly true for the public sector.