§ Mr. ChallenTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to encourage staff to work from home; and how many staff do so on a regular basis. [21828]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe Department for Work and Pensions is committed to the Work-Life balance of its staff. A range of flexible working patterns including part time working, job sharing and homeworking is available to staff by agreement with their management. The flexibility to work at home is most frequently used on an ad-hoc basis, but there are individuals who have homeworking as a regular part of their working pattern. The Department is currently looking at ways in which data on the number of people taking up the flexibility can be captured.
The Department for Work and Pensions publicises its policy on flexible working and encourages managers to respond positively to requests as part of their commitment to the diversity agenda. Although the current disparate IT systems allow varying degrees of access to systems at the office, the Department is developing IT infrastructures, 380W complete with the necessary security measures that will in the future allow more flexible and widespread access to office IT systems from home.