Written question asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 30 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 February 2007. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Monday, 5 February 2007 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Flexible Working

Question: (3) what plans he has to extend the right of parents to request flexible working.

Answer: The Government encourage all types of flexible working across the workforce by providing detailed guidance, promoting the benefits and sharing best practice. We are also currently embarked on an awareness-raising campaign in relation to new family-friendly measures being introduced under the Work and Families Act 2006, including a new right to request flexible working for carers of adults.The Third Work-Life Balance Employees' Survey was conducted on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry in early 2006. It found that 65 per cent. of working parents with children under six years of age in Great Britain were aware of the right to request flexible working.From 6 April this year, we are extending the right to request—which is currently available for parents of young and disabled children—to carers of adults. We are continuing to consider the case for extending the right to parents of older children, in the light of experience of the extension of the law to carers of adults.

Secondary information