Written question WQ84316

During the pandemic, home working has been a positive experience for many, giving them greater flexibility in their working lives and removing what can often be an expensive and difficult daily commute into a busy office location.

We know that many people want to continue to work remotely for some of their time in the longer term but we are also conscious of the needs of those for whom, for various reasons, home working is not a viable option.

The public health situation has meant that we have been unable to fully trial hybrid working arrangements which we will continue to evaluate over the next 6 months. The new arrangements will seek to find the right balance between operational need, environmental benefits and staff wellbeing. We anticipate that all of our staff will spend at least some of their time in a Welsh Government office completing the tasks that are best suited to an office environment although the pandemic has shown us that many tasks can be completed successfully away from the office with the benefits that this increased flexibility brings. As the public health situation improves, we will start to bring more staff back in to our offices so that we can fully trial a hybrid working model. At this stage, we do not have a fixed percentage in mind, this will be determined based on the evidence that we gather during our 6 month evaluation.

Our aim is for a hybrid workplace model, where staff can work both in the office or from other locations. By doing this, we can contribute to taking action against climate change by reducing congestion and pollution, while increasing productivity and promoting work-life balance benefits for employees and employers.