Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the proportion of civil servants who use flexible working.
The Civil Service encourages flexible working, recognising that flexible working patterns can be mutually beneficial by improving employees’ work-life balance and wellbeing, helping to attract and retain a diverse workforce, particularly those with caring responsibilities, increasing productivity and reducing costs.
There is a great deal of flexible working, encompassing a number of practices. These arrangements are made departmentally and locally. Working patterns are agreed subject to business need and arrangements can be contractual or informal depending on circumstances. Decisions are made in line with the ACAS Code of Practice on Flexible Working. Agreements are also subject to periodic review to ensure the arrangements remain fit for purpose for the individual and the business.
We do not hold information centrally about the overall numbers of civil servants across all types of flexible working patterns.