Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department’s press release, Millions of Britons to be able to request flexible working on day one of employment, published on 5 December 2022, if he will estimate the number and proportion of people in (a) Newcastle and (b) the North East who will work remotely as a result of the proposed legislation.

The planned reform to the right to request flexible working will bring an estimated 2.2 million more employees in scope of the entitlement. This is based on the 2019 average number of people who had been employed for less than 26 weeks with their employer.

The reform to the use of exclusivity clauses will ensure around 1.5 million low paid workers can top up their income by working multiple short-term contracts.

We have made no assessment of the number and proportion of people undertaking more than one job or the number and proportion of people working remotely by region as a result of the proposed legislation.