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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the contribution to the economy of home and flexible working.

We carried out an impact assessment in 2014 on the extension of the statutory right to request flexible working, estimating a total benefit (net present value) of £474.9 million. This figure incorporates monetised benefits relating to the extension of the right to request to all employees with 26 weeks continuous service and therefore does not take into account the flexible working among parents and carers that was already taking place prior to the extension.

We are currently reviewing the 2014 extension of the right to request Flexible working to all eligible employees. The review will test the economic assumptions underpinning the cost-benefit analysis in the original impact assessment.