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But the draft, submitted in Parliament by Employment Minister Andrew Smith, falls far short of the legal steps against ageism that Tony Blair's Labour Party pledged in the political campaign that propelled it into power 18 months ago. Early indications are that industrial tribunals could be used to back the new code by hearing complaints from workers about discrimination because of their age. But Age Concern insisted immediately that only legislation would effectively outlaw ageism.

The code, which will apply in England, Scotland and Wales, "is a big step forward because it will establish new standards," Smith said in offering up the document, which the Government has opened for consultation until 8 January, before it becomes official policy.

Even as the Blair Government took its first, tentative step toward tackling the problem, the Employers Forum on Age issued a report claiming that age discrimination was costing the British economy a whopping 26 billion pounds a year through the failure to utilize the skills of older workers.

Age Concern's Forum on Age, which supports mixed-aged work forces, warned in its report that a third of the 9.3 million British citizens between the ages of 50 and 64 were out of work. It described them as a "hidden" work force that is excluded from the Government's official figures on unemployment.

In pressing the Government's case for its voluntary code, Andrew Smith said that "by the year 2000, more than a third of our labour force will be aged over 45, and this figure will increase to almost 40 per cent in 2010."

"And increasingly," he said, in a shot aimed over the bow of mercantile business, "the proportion of customers over 45 is rising" - a statistic that he hinted might stick in the minds of older buyers as they surveyed the work practices of the businesses they patronise.

"The code can and will establish new standards which will become accepted as the norm and give the basis for employees and customers challenging a firm that flouted the code," Smith insisted.

The voluntary code of practice, drawn up in consultation with the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Unions Congress and Age Concern, urges companies not to use age limits or phrases such as "young graduates" in job advertisements, to use mixed-age interviewing panels, to promote staff on merit regardless of age and to consider offering job-sharing or career breaks as alternatives to redundancy.

The Government's own research shows that about 5 per cent of people over the age of 45 feel that they have run into discrimination when they applied for jobs. Meanwhile, it has halted the practice at Job Centres of putting age limits on job adverts.

"Companies can't afford to waste talent," Smith said. "There's an enormous waste of talent here. With more than a third of the work force cut off from the labour market, it's not only a denial of opportunity to them, it's an enormous cost to the economy."

The voluntary nature of the code means the Government has decided, at least for the time being, against legislation to outlaw ageism. Smith said such legislation had not been totally ruled out, but that the Government wanted more public debate before going beyond the new code.

Age Concern remains convinced that, in the long run, the law is the only answer to the problem. "Only comprehensive legislation will enable the victims of age discrimination to challenge employers effectively," said Sally Greengross, the charity's director.

"With a recession predicted next year," she said, "even more older people will be in fear of losing their jobs and never working again. These people need to know that the law is on their side." "The code is good, but there are still some questions that need answering."

Analysts said the Government has resisted pressure to legislate against ageism, in part because of the fate of similar efforts in other countries. In the United States, one said, it has not proven effective, and New Zealand experienced so many difficulties that the entire public sector was made exempt.

Industrial tribunals, which hear employer-employee complaints against each other, are seen as a possible solution as the voluntary code goes into effect. Andrew Smith said he intended to consult with tribunal chairmen about the possibilities of age-related cases being heard to back up the code.

"Customers and workers will have a basis to complain to a company and to the wider forum of public opinion," the minister said. "The more widely the code is accepted, the more appropriate it will be for industrial tribunals to take account of it."

Some UK companies, including the Nationwide building society, do-it-yourself giants B&Q, the Sainsbury supermarket chain and department store titans Marks & Spencer, have already won praise from Smith and the Government for taking on older workers and recognising the benefits they offer.

"A business that ignores this resource does so at their peril," said Nationwide spokeswoman Denise Walker. "We are an ageing population, and we need to tap that experience."

MediaAge.net is a news service on ageing policies and related issues in Europe. Organisations and individuals can receive and contribute information by signing up at http://www.mediaage.net