Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Flexible Working
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of staff in his Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Seema Malhotra
As of July 2025, 6.2 per cent of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office UK-based staff have formal flexible working arrangements. These include part-time hours, job sharing, and compressed hours. The Department does not currently hold separate data on compressed hours, as flexible working is recorded using Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) metrics. Staff may work compressed hours informally, but such arrangements are not centrally tracked unless part of a formal agreement.
Informal compressed hours are typically agreed locally between staff and line managers, reflecting the Department's commitment to flexible working and alignment with Civil Service-wide practices that support work-life balance and operational needs.
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