Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) teachers, and (2) schools, are supported to enable them to benefit from the provisions of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.

The Department is taking action to ensure that both teachers and head teachers are supported to benefit from the provisions of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.

The Department has published a collection of flexible working resources on GOV.UK, including non-statutory guidance and case studies. This collection will undergo development and the Department will ensure that resources are updated to provide practical support when the provisions of the Act take effect.

The Department is also funding support for teachers and head teachers. A culture change programme is being delivered, focusing on embedding flexible working in schools and multi-academy trusts. This includes the delivery of supportive webinars targeting both teachers and head teachers. The webinars include content focused on preparing for the legislative changes and on how to make a statutory request for flexible working. As part of this programme, the Department is also funding flexible working ambassador schools and multi-academy trusts to provide bespoke peer support to leaders in education. In June, seven new ambassadors were appointed and are currently in the process of recruiting more, building on the work of a previous cohort of ambassador schools.

The Department continues to work closely with the sector to identify and share examples of best practice and to determine how we can best target future support.