Public Sector: Working From Home

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, this Government are absolutely committed to the re-prioritisation of our workforce in delivering front-line services, which will require ongoing upskilling and training. On bringing it in-house, I look forward to ongoing conversations with the Minister sitting to my right, my noble friend Lady Smith of Malvern, about how we will collectively work across government to achieve it.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, is not the answer to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Londesborough, of why the Government are not tackling this problem the same as for why their policy on schools has been changed and their whole approach to employment policy is being changed? It is because this Government are run by the trade unions.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, I think that many general secretaries of trade unions would wish that to be the case. As a former trade union officer, I am very proud that this Government are embedded in and wedded to Labour and trade union values. We are working with our trade unions to deliver a plan for change regarding flexible working and our new normal. Noble Lords will appreciate that we are now five years on from the pandemic, when we had 80% of the workforce working from home. We now have a new normal. We look to what people’s expectations are and how we can deliver on those and on the delivery of our core mission of economic growth, working with all partners, trade unions and employers, to deliver it.