Civil Service Goes 'Retirement Free'

Civil servants will no longer be 'forced' into retirement.

By 2010 the service will be completely retirement free - for anyone who wants to carry on working.

Last year a pledge was made to scrap the mandatory retirement age for all staff below the most senior levels.

Today, the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell promised to remove it for everyone in the Senior Civil Service as well.

It means, that from April 2010 all staff who wish to carry on working after 65 will be able to do so, with government departments benefiting from their continuing experience and skills Sir Gus, who is also head of the Home Civil Service, made the announcement on National Older People's Day to highlight the value of older workers.

He said: "We should not put an artificial and unnecessary cap on the contribution of long serving, dedicated staff - at any grade. I am delighted that we will be freeing up the potential of our older, senior civil servants to continue to serve.

"Today's move also shows the Civil Service is committed to using the knowledge and experience of its increasingly diverse workforce to improve the delivery of public services for everyone.

"Like any successful organisation we need people who have experience in key areas, as well as those with fresh ideas to challenge traditional methods.

"This announcement demonstrates our commitment to providing greater working flexibility for all civil servants."

Andrew Harrop, Head of Public Policy at Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: "The scrapping of the mandatory retirement age for all civil servants is good news and one more sign that the Government's support for forced retirement is waning.

"Ministers should now move swiftly to free all older workers from the pending threat of the Default Retirement Age. The first opportunity to get rid of this outdated legislation is to amend the Equality Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament."

(GK/BMcC)