§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many civil servants are employed in his Department; what are their average weekly working hours, and how many are(a) on flexitime, (b) on job-sharing schemes, (c) on a four-day working week or nine-day fortnight and (d) able to retire with full pension rights at 60 years.
§ Mr. RidleyOn 1 February 1988 there were 32,820 staff employed in my Department (including the PSA); 741 of these work part-time, including job-sharers. Separate figures for job-sharing schemes are not available. Non-industrial staff in central London work 41 hours per week (gross); elsewhere 42 hours. Industrial staff work 44 hours per week, gross. The average weekly hours of part-time staff is 19.7 hours.
Most full-time staff work a five-day week—except those working shifts. Numbers of staff working a four-day week or nine-day fortnight are not readily available.
Flexible working hours agreements operate on a local basis; there are currently 115 local schemes in operation. Staff are free to participate in them, or not to do so, if they wish. Figures for participants are not kept centrally.
All staff are entitled to retire on pension at age 60. Maximum pension rights normally accrue after 40 years total service; 4,128 of present non-industrial staff would have 40 years service by age 60. Those with shorter service do, however, have the opportunity to purchase some additional qualifying years for pension purposes. Corresponding figures for industrial staff are not readily available.