Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support increased (a) home and flexible working and (b) provision of co-working spaces.

Government is actively supporting good quality flexible working, of which home working can be part, and the provision of co-working spaces.

We have set up, with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Flexible Working Taskforce to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices. In January this year the Taskforce published a business case, supporting guidance and its members committed to support and promote the “Happy to Talk Flexible Working” campaign.

We have committed to consult on a new duty on employers to consider when a job can be done flexibly, and make that clear when advertising.

We have also committed to review the statutory right to request flexible working in 2020 and have commissioned some of the surveys to gather data for that work.

Through the Local Enterprise Partnership we promote economic growth and jobs in local areas. In order to deliver this objective, some LEPs have supported the creation of co-working spaces alongside advice and other support for business start-ups. This is being done in a number of ways, including through Growth Hubs and innovation centres.