Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what delegated flexibilities are available to her Department for calculating (a) working hours and (b) actual hours worked.

Terms and conditions of employment outside the Senior Civil Service are delegated to departments but must be managed in the public interest and in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code, and through consultation with the Cabinet Office and His Majesty's Treasury.

Where a term of employment is contractual, like working hours, it cannot be changed for existing employees other than with their expressed agreement or through collective bargaining with the trade unions.