Fórsa and Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) have agreed to enact the review clause of the local authority blended working agreement, which gives all council staff the right to apply for remote or blended work arrangements.

Negotiated by Fórsa, the current local government framework gives workers the right to apply for remote or blended working. It doesn’t guarantee blended work arrangements for all who apply, but workers will be able to have the decision reviewed if they are turned down, with a view to resolving the issues that led to the refusal to facilitate remote work.

Delegates to the Local Government and Local Services divisional conference last May unanimously passed a motion which sought to trigger the review clause in the agreement with a view to establishing blended working across all local authorities, embedding blended working into the sector, ensuring that it is available to members to the greatest extent possible, and underpinning any agreed policy with a fair, transparent and equitable appeals mechanism.

Head of Local Government and Local Services Richy Carrothers said that most local authorities are now operating a blended working model with varying degrees of application and uptake.

“Where it is granted, most local authorities have implemented no more than two days available for blended working – although it may be less in some employments,” he explained.

“Workers have demonstrated that this new way of blended working works, by championing and demonstrating a culture of flexibility, agility, trust and innovation. While the framework is robust, Fórsa’s wants to ensure a fair and transparent approach to worker requests for blended work is applied across the sector, and this review will help to deliver that,” he said.

Read the blended working framework and procedures for applications here.

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