§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the extent of job sharing in her Department. [90874]
§ Ms HewittCurrently in DTI, there are around 28 job shares, including three job shares at senior civil service level; two people work school term times only and the staff survey shows that 78 per cent. of staff state that their managers allow working patterns to help them balance work and home life.
The Department launched a new flexible working policy including guidance for managers and staff in April 2002, to ensure that new ways of working are available to all individuals and the benefits to stakeholders, customers, managers and staff are fully maximised. Emerging results reflect great success with an increase in take up of flexible patterns, including compressed hours. Further evaluation will be carried out in April this year. In February this year, we will be launching a more comprehensive toolkit for managers and staff to provide on-going support and advice.