§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will undertake a survey of all offices and agencies for which he has responsibility to ascertain to what extent staff supplying a service to the public are curtailing their work on a Friday afternoon earlier than other days of the week; and if he will make a statement on his policy on hours of staff working each week.
§ Mr. Robert JacksonThe conditioned hours of all staff in the main grades are 41 hours gross a week in the London pay area and 42 hours gross a week elsewhere. The majority of staff in the agencies for which I am responsible work under flexible hours schemes to which core time rules apply. A condition of the flexible hours schemes is that they may be withdrawn if the system is abused or if the work needs make it impractical. There is no evidence of abuse of the system or that customers of the Department are not effectively serviced on Friday afternoons, so I see no reason to carry out a survey.