Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what records her Department keeps relating to staff working times under Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations 1998; and how long those records are kept for.

Staff at DCMS work a standard 36 or 37 hour week and paid overtime is allowed on an exceptional basis in priority areas. No members of staff have opted off of the Working Time Directive, and we do not have any workers in the categories set out in Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 at this time.

Staff are encouraged to discuss their working hours with their Line Manager and, where they may be working beyond their standard hours, to record their hours of work with managers keeping oversight. A flexi time sheet template is available for individuals to use to record their hours; records are not held centrally and staff are free to retain them for as long as useful.