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.<\/p>
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.<\/p>
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.<\/p>
Hybrid working is important in making a success of the government\u2019s 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 \u2018in the room\u2019 this model cannot work.<\/p>
<\/strong> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4284", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-24T13:40:58.94Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Civil Servants: Remote Working"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "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.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1796", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
], "uin" : "HL4796"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1695980", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1695980/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The independent review of the UK Statistics Authority and the Government\u2019s response to the recommendations were published on 12 March 2024. They can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-the-uk-statistics-authority-uksa-2023<\/a><\/p> The review made 19 separate recommendations to the UK Statistics Authority and Cabinet Office including amending the statistical legislation (Statistical and Registration Services Act 2007) to better reflect the governance arrangements in place and reflect the practical operation of the UKSA.<\/p> The Government agrees in principle with this recommendation but noted that - given that the report concluded the current arrangements were working in practice - this is not a current priority for legislation and will be a matter for the next Parliament to consider. However, in our response we said that the UKSA leadership in the meantime should take active steps to better communicate the current working arrangements to assure users and stakeholders that robust systems are in place to regulate the Office for National Statistics and the wider Government Statistical Service.<\/p> The Government also welcomed wider recommendations regarding transparency, such as establishing a triennial statistical assembly which will allow users and the Authority to discuss priorities in an open and constructive way.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4284", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-03-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-03-27T17:02:55.82Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Statistics"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority on the separation of functions and reporting arrangements, what steps they are taking to ensure greater transparency in the governance and enhancements of the statistical system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1796", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
], "uin" : "HL3265"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1688923", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1688923/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government is grateful for each response to the recent Call for Evidence on the National Security and Investment Act, including the submission from the Business and Trade Sub-Committee. The Government is now analysing all the responses and will respond publicly in due course.<\/p> The NSI Act brought the UK\u2019s approach to investment screening in line with many of our allies. Whilst the vast majority of acquisitions pose no national security risk, where the government does identify risk, it will not hesitate to act.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4284", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Neville-Rolfe"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-02-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-02-28T17:29:12.853Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-02-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Foreign Investment in UK: National Security"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government, further to\u202frecommendations made by the House of Commons\u202fBusiness and Trade Sub-Committee on National Security and Investment on 9 February in their submission to the Government\u2019s call for evidence ahead of reforms to the UK\u2019s investment-screening regime, what steps they are taking to\u202fstrengthen the screening processes under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to better align with the investment rules of UK allies.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1796", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Taylor of Warwick"}
], "uin" : "HL2502"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1688867", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1688867/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.<\/p> <\/p> Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.<\/p> <\/p> The Lord Taylor of Warwick<\/p> House of Lords<\/p> London<\/p> SW1A 0PW<\/p> <\/p> 21 February 2024<\/p> Dear Lord Taylor,<\/p> <\/p> As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS) is reliable and accurate (HL2453)<\/strong>.<\/p> <\/p> Following the suspension of publishing LFS estimates and micro-data in October 2023 because of quality concerns, the ONS put a comprehensive plan [1] in place to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS estimates and micro-data. The plan covers both data collection measures and methods used to make the survey estimates more representative of the UK population.<\/p> <\/p> The planned improvements to data collection procedures were implemented in October/November 2023. These included the prioritisation of interviewer resource allocated to the LFS, the reintroduction of in-home interviewing, recontacting households that did not respond, and increasing the monetary incentive to participate. Furthermore, at the start of January we have increased the number of households we initially contact on the survey by 8,000 up to 25,800 for the quarter of January to March 2024. The combination of measures has already resulted in an increase in the achieved sample and we plan to maintain these measures for the foreseeable future.<\/p> <\/p> As part of the improvements to our methods used to make the survey estimates more representative [2], the ONS have produced UK population projections specifically for the purpose of the LFS. This used 2022-based population projections for England and Wales combined with population estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Additionally, we have reviewed and where appropriate adjusted the estimation method for the LFS to account for the challenges of low response levels in certain areas.<\/p> <\/p> Both the improvements to data collection operations and methods to improve representativeness had a positive impact on the quality and reliability of the LFS data and enabled the ONS to reintroduce the publication of LFS-based estimates and micro-data from 13 February 2024.<\/p> <\/p> As we expect to continue to see higher volatility in LFS data in the short term than might historically have been the case, we continue to advise users to apply caution when observing short-term changes in the survey-based estimates. As well as this, the commentary we publish alongside our statistics bulletins should also be considered.<\/p> <\/p> While we are working hard to improve our LFS-based data, it remains our plan to make the transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) our main measure for the UK labour market. The TLFS is an online-first survey that asks many more people about their employment status. While early returns from this survey look positive, we need a longer consistent time series to aid interpretation before we share these data with users. We expect the TLFS to become the primary source for the labour market release in September 2024.<\/p> <\/p> Yours sincerely,<\/p> Professor Sir Ian Diamond<\/p> <\/p> [1] Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction, ONS article, 2 November 2023,<\/p>
<\/p>