Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of hybrid working models in the Civil Service; and what steps they are taking to adapt policies to balance the benefits of both remote and in-office work.

Work is ongoing to update policies and practices to ensure we maximise the benefits of both remote and face to face working, including investing in our estate to ensure we provide a positive workplace experience with the right technology and facilities and enhancing our line managers capabilities to manage effectively in a hybrid working environment.

The Civil Service has had a hybrid working model for some years now, and it is applying this flexibly to help balance business and personal requirements. Hybrid working is part of the Civil Service approach to flexible working as set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022-2025, which recognises the importance of flexibility in the ways of working and location as key to increasing innovation, performance and engagement as well as attracting diverse talent and representing the UK as a whole.

Carrying out tasks in the right place allows us to maximise efficiency and helps us to identify parts of the estate that are not optimally configured or can be released at the earliest opportunity, with appropriate lease breaks.

Hybrid working is important in making a success of the government’s Places for Growth Programme, including the creation of the non-London headquarters announced by ministers over the last year. The Treasury, for example, is positioning the new economic campus in Darlington as a full second headquarters with senior policy roles currently performed in Whitehall. Without hybrid meetings combining colleagues online and others ‘in the room’ this model cannot work.