Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of age discrimination in recruitment and employment, and what steps they are taking to combat that discrimination.

It is not possible to accurately estimate the prevalence of age discrimination in recruitment and employment because not all such discrimination is reported or challenged and in some cases such differential treatment can be objectively justified.

The Equality Act 2010 (The Act) provides strong protection against discrimination related to age in both an employment and service provision context, as age is one of the nine protected characteristics listed in The Act. In addition, employers are not permitted to use a default retirement age for their employees.

These protections enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including recruitment processes and when in work. Where age discrimination in recruitment and employment cannot be objectively justified and is unlawful, individuals can seek redress at an employment tribunal.