Age-old dilemma

Keeping people in work for longer means more tax receipts for the Treasury, a priority in these austere times, and less demand for the state pension.

It's also a further acceptance that people are going to have to work longer in an ageing society.

The downside is the consequences for the private sector – an oversight on the part of Ministers. It leaves businesses with little room for manoeuvre if they are forced to retain staff – some more effective than others – who might otherwise have retired. The legal repercussions could be expensive and endless.

Yet, if individuals decide to work longer as a result of the imposition of this Whitehall measure, it, potentially, means that there will be even fewer jobs available in private industry to all those people seeking work – whether they be public sector staff deemed surplus to requirements, benefit claimants or senior citizens expected to find various means of topping up their pension.

That is why this policy, one that is symptomatic of these times, will only work if the Government can create a new enterprise culture and, thus far, there is little tangible evidence of a significant and sustainable private sector recovery to support the coalition's business and welfare policies.