Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the steps taken by organisations to support carers to increase agile working practices.

In 2016, the Department carried out an extensive call for evidence, including a roundtable event with employers, to inform the development of a new Carers Strategy. As part of this exercise, the Department reviewed many examples of employers which have implemented workplace policies to support employees with caring responsibilities, and the growing evidence base on the benefits to businesses and carers of flexible working arrangements.

Earlier this month, the Department for Work and Pensions published Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach, which sets out a range of ongoing partnership work with employers to support working carers aged over 50 and to continue to grow the evidence base in this area.