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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish (a) any assessment undertaken and (b) the methodology of any such assessment on the cost and productivity differential between civil servants working from home and working in Whitehall.

The Government is committed to encouraging flexible working, which has many benefits for both individuals and employers. The Review of the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 showed that flexible working can reduce vacancy costs; increase skill retention; enhance business performance; and reduce staff absenteeism rates.

To help organisations realise the benefits of flexible working, we issued a consultation and accompanying impact assessment on “making flexible working the default” in Autumn of last year. The consultation closed on 1 December 2021, receiving over 1,600 responses. We will be publishing our consultation response in due course.