Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Paragraph: 61
The future of the high street will depend in part on where people work.
Recommendation
The future of the high street will depend in part on where people work. It is therefore disappointing that the Government’s impact assessment of its consultation on Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 69 making flexible working the default does not consider high streets and town centres. The Government should assess the impact of making flexible working the default on high streets and town centres.
Paragraph Reference:
61
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government agrees it is important to consider the impacts of flexible working on high streets, and this has been built into policy development. The 2014 flexible working regulations provide employees with 26 weeks continuous service the statutory right to request a contractual change to the location, hours and/or timing of work. Under the framework, employers reserve the right to refuse requests for specified business reasons. The “Making Flexible Working the Default” consultation considered proposals to amend this existing regulatory framework. The impact assessment published alongside the consultation assessed the additional impact of those consultation proposals. In terms of the potential impact on the high street, the key consultation proposal was to remove the 26-week qualifying period. This would mean that the statutory right to request flexible working would be available to all employees regardless of time served. In the impact assessment, we estimate that roughly 8% of employees have changed their jobs, or started one, within the