What steps she plans to take to reduce the incidence of age discrimination in the provision of public services.

The Equality Bill will prohibit unjustifiable age discrimination in the provision of goods and services and outlaw the discrimination and unfairness that still persists against older people in social care, NHS services and insurance company services. We particularly welcome the work of the Department of Health and the findings of the south-west review of age equality, which will join the anti-discrimination efforts from 2012 onwards.

The Equality Bill is welcome, but older people, our largest vulnerable group, would surely still benefit from the appointment of a commissioner to oversee their access to services across the public sector, an idea promoted in my own private Member's legislation. What discussions has the Minister had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on how our older citizens can best secure rights in this area equivalent to those of the younger section of the population?

The Government are the champions of older people, supported by friends such as my hon. Friend. With our ageing society, it is increasingly important that the voice of older people is heard by Government at all levels. I am pleased to remind my hon. Friend of the role of Dame Joan Bakewell, who has been hugely valuable as an independent voice of older people, as has Michael Parkinson in his role as dignity champion. My hon. Friend can be assured that we will continue to take all advice that we possibly can in ensuring that this becomes a reality.

How can we have any confidence in this Government on the issue of age discrimination when their much-vaunted Equality Bill still allows employers forcibly to sack people into retirement at the age of 65?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, this issue is under active consideration; we will be looking into it later next year, with the support of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It is important to remind him, however, that he voted against the Second Reading of the Equality Bill.