Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address ageism in advertising, the media and the creative industries.

The Equality Act 2010 already contains strong protections for older people against age discrimination in a variety of settings, including work and the provision of services. The Act prohibits both discrimination because of age and harassment related to age.

We welcome the recent Women and Equalities Select Committee inquiry into the rights of older people, which made a number of recommendations relating to ageism. The Government’s response to this inquiry sets out our commitments to ensure the right support systems are in place for older people, including on employment, health care and digital inclusion. Ofcom, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Independent Press Standards Organisation have also responded to the inquiry, with Ofcom providing reflections on the report’s recommendations on broadcasting.

In advertising, industry codes applied by the ASA prohibit adverts from causing serious or widespread offence, and outline that particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of protected characteristics, one of which is age.

All the creative industries have an important role in holding a mirror up to nature, exposing and understanding our common prejudices and challenging the stereotypes that hold us back socially and economically. The arm’s length principle wisely prevents government from lecturing the arts about how and when they should do this.