Departmental Staff (Hansard, 28 February 2000)

§ Dr. Howells

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 15 February 2000,Official Report, column 518W, in which he set out the importance placed on improving the balance between work and family life in the Civil Service as a whole which is reflected in the Civil Service reform programme. Arrangements for DTI are as set out.

53W

Childcare

Departmental staff in central London have access to a 32-place holiday playscheme for a minimum of 54 days each year. Staff contribute £7.50 per day per place towards the £16.90 daily fee. DTI HQ staff in Cardiff have access to a local holiday playscheme for a contribution of £6.50 to the £13.00 daily fee per place. An annual contribution is also made towards the costs of an inter-Department Easter and Summer playscheme for staff in Government Office for the East Midlands.

Approximately 100 staff have used the central London playscheme in 1998–99 (academic year October—August) using a total of 1,550 places over the year i.e. 93.6 per cent. occupancy rate.

Leave and flexible working

The Department has a range of policies providing for leave or flexible working:

for women with one year's service, maternity leave of up to 52 weeks, including 18 weeks on full pay;
10 days paid paternity leave;
for staff with one year's service, parental leave of up to 4 weeks per year up to a maximum of 13 weeks in total for each child;
up to five days paid leave to deal with an emergency involving a dependant which may include nursing a sick child;
part-time working including job share, homeworking, flexitime working and term time working are all available. The Department does not offer annual hours contracts;
where staff incur additional child or elder care costs due to a requirement to make a temporary change to their normal working pattern, these costs may be reimbursed;
for staff with one year's service, career breaks are available for up to five years for those with caring responsibilities.

Except where the provision is an entitlement, eligibility is based on a judgment of the individual's circumstances and the needs of the Department taking account of guidance provided to staff covering the different arrangements.

The arrangements are for DTI Headquarters staff; Chief Executives of the Agencies will reply separately on their arrangements for leave and flexible working.

Letter from David Hendon to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: I am replying to your questions on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency which is an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry. Childcare Radiocommunications Agency staff have full access to the DTI's 32 place holiday playscheme as outlined in their separate reply to you on this issue. Approximately three Radiocommunications staff used the central London playscheme in 1998–99 (academic year Oct-Aug). Leave and flexible working The arrangements for leave and flexible working are identical to those outlined in the DTI's reply. You will note that the DTI does not currently offer annual hours contracts and the position is the same for Radiocommunications Agency staff. Additionally no staff are employed on term time contracts at present. When requests are received for alternative working patterns (outside the normal individual entitlement) we consider each request on merit, taking into account the individual circumstances and the Agency's business needs.

Letter from J. S. Holden to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: I have been asked to reply to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in respect of Companies House Executive Agency. 54W Companies House provides up to 52 weeks maternity leave (a), of which 18 weeks is paid (b), the balance being unpaid for qualifying staff (over 1 year's service for permanent staff and on two or more year contracts if fixed term appointees). Ten days paid paternity leave (c) is given for similarly qualified staff. Unpaid parental leave (d) is allowed up to a maximum of 13 weeks for those with children born on or after 15 December 1999 and under 5 years old. Almost all staff benefit from flexible working hours (e) and 30% additionally avail themselves of the opportunity to work part-time (0. Of the 30% part-timers, 5% are in job-share arrangements (g). Leave of up to 5 days paid, 20 days unpaid is normally given to those needing to care for sick children (h), and longer arrangements are considered sympathetically. Home working (i) is a possibility in a few posts, but is not an entitlement. There is not provision for term time contracts (j) or annual hours contracts (k). Companies House offers subsidised holiday play schemes (1) and child care allowances when staff are required to be absent from home outside their normal work hours. Carer's leave (m) and career breaks (n) are considered on application from those with satisfactory performance and attendance records.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about our provisions for maternity, paternity, and parental leave as well as for a range of other flexible employment practices. Provision for these within the National Weights and Measures Laboratory are the same as those within DTI, as the Agency follows the Department's guidelines on these issues.

Letter from Ian Jones to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: You tabled a Parliamentary Question on 3 February to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry concerning conditions of employment in his department and executive agencies. I have been asked to reply in respect of the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) which is an executive agency of the DTI. The following provisions are made available to ETS staff in line with DTI policy on eligibility: Maternity Leave; Maternity Pay; Paternity Leave; Parental Leave; Part-Time Working Hours; Job-Sharing; Career Break Schemes and Leave to Care for Sick Children. Flexible working hours are available to all staff regardless of status and eligibility is dictated by operational need. Home working is presently limited with each application considered on its merits. As with Term Time and Annual Hours Contracts, opportunities are restricted by the operational needs of the judicial process. Childcare allowances are in line with the DTI Policy and ETS also operate a subsidised holiday play scheme. Permanent staff are eligible. Careers leave would be considered for permanent staff on request. If there is further information you would like to have, please let me know.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to your question about the provisions made available to employees of The Insolvency Service for (a) maternity leave, (b) maternity pay, (c) paternity leave, (d) parental leave, (e) flexible working hours, (0 part-time working (g) job sharing, (h) leave to care for a sick child, (i) home-working, (j) term-time contracts, (k) annual hours contracts, (1) child care allowances, (m) careers' leave and (n) career break schemes; and what criteria are used to judge eligibility. The provisions available to staff in The Service and the eligibility criteria are set out in the attached table. In several areas the provisions and criteria are under review as part of The Service's "Working 2005" study which is looking at further developing flexible family friendly working policies alongside improvements in availability of services to users. 55W

Annex A
Subject	Provision	Eligibility criteria
Maternity Leave	Statutory entitlements Contractual entitlements—52 weeks meternity leave	Permanent staff with one year's service within the last three years
Maternity Pay	Statutory entitlements Contractual entitlements—18 weeks meternity pay at normal standard rate of pay.	Permanent staff with one year's service within the last three years
Paternity Leave	Statutory entitlements Contractual entitlements—10 days paid leave except during periods of unpaid absence	Permanent staff
Parental Leave	Statutory fall back scheme applies until internal policy formulated i.e. 13 weeks unpaid leave; right to return to same or equivalent job. Contractual entitlement to adopative leave—52 weeks (20 days paid)	One year's continuous service Child born/adopted on or after 15 December 1999 and who is under 5 years old or 18 for adoption of childwith a disability
Flexible working hours	Current agreement in place since 30 September 1991	All staff Withdrawal for misuse of scheme or poor timekeeping
Part-time working/job share	Currently have 180 staff working part-time. Managers required to consider when advertising a post whether suitable for part-time/job share.	Available to all staff, Subject to justifiable operational need/job requirements.
Leave to care for sick child	Emergency time off under Employment Relations Act 1999. Also covered under special leave with pay—up to 5 days.
Home working	A number of home-working posts exist. Staff can request to work from home within their present job in whole or part.	Suitability of the post for homeworking
Term-time contracts	Not currently available in this form.
	Other flexible working practices may be utilised to help staff deal with their responsibilities during school holidays. These include part-time working, flexible working hours and special leave without pay.
Annual hours	Not currently available in this form.
Child care allowance	Not available, The Service does recompense staff who need to make additional child care arrangements

56W

Annex A
Subject	Provision	Eligibility criteria
	to attend work-related events outside their normal working pattern. DTI provides assisted play scheme placements during school holidays
Careers' leave	Not available as such. However staff may avail themselves of the provision of extended special leave without pay to pursue external qualifications. Staff studying for an external qualification, which is of benefit to the organisation, may get assistance with cost and study leave.
Career Break Scheme	Extended period of special leave without pay to deal with domestic responsibilities. Annual keeping in touch scheme, including two weeks work placement each year.	Subject to: completion of probation; satisfactory performance; satisfactory attendance. Currently limited to a maximum of 5 years

Letter from Alison Brimelow to Caroline Flint, dated 28 February 2000: I am replying on behalf of the Patent Office to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry relating to the provision of family friendly benefits. Our provision for the initiatives you listed are detailed below. a) Maternity Leave Paid Maternity Leave Paid Maternity Leave consists of 18 weeks maternity leave at the full rate of pay. Staff qualify if they have a permanent appointment and have completed at least one year's paid service. They are also required to:

i) provide written confirmation that they intend to return to the Office after the pregnancy for a minimum of one calendar month.
ii) provide written confirmation of their pregnancy at least 21 days before Paid Maternity Leave starts.

Unpaid Maternity Leave Staff qualifying for Paid Maternity Leave will also be entitled to an additional period of unpaid maternity leave. The total period of paid and unpaid maternity leave cannot exceed 52 weeks. However, it is possible for staff to take a career break of up to five years following maternity leave. b) Maternity Pay Maternity Leave on Full Pay Staff qualify for 18 weeks full pay if they have a permanent appointment and have completed at least one year's paid service. c) Paternity Leave Fathers employed by the Office are entitled to take 10 days paid paternity leave. This need not necessarily be taken at the time of birth but may be taken during the weeks following the birth of the child if it is more helpful to the family. 57W d) Parental Leave The statutory entitlement to Parental leave is available to all staff with at least one year's continuous service. e) Flexible Working Hours We operate a Flexible Working Hours scheme, participation in which is voluntary and open to full and part-time members of staff. f & g) Part-time Work and Job Sharing We have 72 part-time/job share staff (8.4%) and are always keen to extend these opportunities. Each request is considered on its merits. h) Leave to care for sick children Line management may grant up to 5 days paid special leave to enable a member of staff to deal with short-term domestic problems or to make satisfactory longer term arrangements for coping with them. Each application is considered sympathetically and on a case by case basis. i) Home-Working The Office is willing to consider home working arrangements where it is compatible with the work of the Office and interests of the individual concerned. Each application is considered on its merits. j & k) Term-time/Annual Hours Contracts There are no current provisions for term-time/annual hours contracts. l) Child Care Allowances Staff who are required to make a temporary change to their normal working routine (eg attending a residential training course or unavoidable late or early working periods for short periods) are eligible to claim the cost of any additional child care expenses that they incur. We also subsidise staff whose children attend an on-site nursery. This is also the case with play schemes that are organised during the Easter and Summer holidays. All directly employed staff are eligible to apply for both initiatives. m) Careers Leave There is currently no provision for careers leave, however, paid study leave may be granted to staff undertaking approved Adult Further Education (eg GCSEs, A levels, degree and professional qualifications) for activities including tutorials, examinations or assessments and revision for them. n) Career Breaks The Office's Career Break Scheme is open to all permanent staff members who wish to take unpaid leave to assume home care responsibilities for a dependant providing they fulfil the following criteria:

i) have satisfactorily completed a probation period
ii) have an overall performance mark of Box 3 (performance fully meets normal requirements of the grade) in their last staff appraisal prior to joining the scheme; or a Box 4 (performance not fully up to requirements; some improvement necessary) where particular circumstances such as recent promotion, illness or domestic circumstances have contributed to a Box 4 marking;
iii) have a satisfactory attendance record;
iv) agree to undertake a minimum of two weeks paid work or development training in the Office each year.

The Office also has a provision for Special Leave without Pay which is also available to all permanent staff for pressing domestic needs such as looking after children (including adopted or fostered children). All cases are considered on an individual basis.