§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Government have made of the demand for flexible working practices. [144513]
§ Mr. SutcliffeEvidence demonstrates that the demand for flexible working by employees is high.
The Spring 2003 Labour Force Survey indicates that 22 per cent. of employees (5.5 million) presently work some form of flexible working arrangement. The preliminary findings of the 2003 DTI Work-Life Balance survey of employees shows that there is substantial demand for flexible working patterns amongst those who do not work in each of these ways; 49 per cent. wanting to work flexitime, 34 per cent. a compressed working week, 32 per cent. work term time only and 29 per cent. expressing a desire to regularly work from home. The full report is to be published early in 2004.
This is supported by the findings of the CIPD/Lovells October 2003 research into the impact of the new flexible working law, which indicates that over a quarter (28 per cent.) of employers have seen an increase in the total number of requests for flexible working since the law was introduced in April 2003. The Government's Work-Life Balance Campaign continues to support demand by encouraging employers to follow best practice and providing flexible working opportunities across the workplace that meet the needs of the business.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information she has collected on(a) the number of requests which have been received by businesses for flexible working and (b) the number of such requests which have been granted. [144514]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe DTI is collecting evidence from a number of sources to build up a clear picture of the demand for, and uptake of, flexible working:
The second Work-Life Balance study of employers (fieldwork Dec 02-Apr 03) showed that:
In the previous year, less than a fifth (17 per cent.) of employers had received a request, from an employee, to change their working pattern for a sustained period of time;Of those employees who made a request, over three-quarters (77 per cent.) said their request had been agreed.To provide a direct comparison over time, it is planned that the WLB survey will be repeated in 2005.
A recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and Lovells (fieldwork Sept 2003) on the use of the new right to request flexible working in the first six months showed that:
Over a quarter of employers (28 per cent.) have seen an increase in the total number of requests for flexible working since April 2003;Of those organisations that have received statutory requests since the right was introduced in April, nearly two thirds (62 per cent.) have approved at least half of all such requests, either in the form submitted by the employee or in modified form.The Department have also commissioned questions on flexible working which currently appear in the Office of National Statistics Omnibus survey. The results of these will be available in Spring 2004.
1045WWe continue to work with key intermediaries, such as Working Families and Maternity Alliance, who are collating data through member/supporter surveys.