Over four months (April & May and September & October), the actual output achieved at home was between 170% and 190% of the ‘baseline’. Figures from November 2007 show that performance levels have been maintained and are still between 150% and 170% of the baseline.

The pilot project was initially structured such that the staff who had volunteered for home-working still spent three days in the office (and two at home), but this has progressed to 3 at home.

The reaction from amongst the staff concerned has also been overwhelmingly positive, as measured by staff surveys.

The Authority has extended the programme to cover other office functions, including HR, under an ‘Alternative Working’ Strategy which also enables ‘Mobile’ working for roles suited to that model.

A Document Management system was the ‘foundation’ for the whole project, enabling staff to carry out case work by remote connection, without access to paper files.

The Authority provides a PC for home-working, so that dedicated software can be loaded, and essential maintenance carried out. That equipment is insured by the Authority, and is made available for personal use by the member of staff and their family. This has been extended to include an internet telephone (Bluetooth headset) which enables staff to speak to each other, to call the Benefits Agency and to ring clients without the complications of using their own telephone account.

The staff members are responsible for the cost and maintenance of the broadband link, the workstation set-up and to allow access for safety assessments.

Flexi-hours are as per the office system, i.e. 7am to 7pm Monday - Friday, and the team leader must be informed by email of start, break and finish times. Attendance at Team Meetings is mandatory, even if these fall on designated ‘home’ days (efforts are made to rotate the timing of meetings, to avoid recurring patterns).

Geography has not been a major issue, in that the staff involved tend to live within an 8-mile radius of the offices, although one (recently retired ‘temp’) carried out her work from her home in Spain.

Other issues have arisen - including the advantage of enabling staff with serious health issues to return to work, at home, when this might not have been possible in the office environment; the advantage of retention - staff have been able to ‘fit’ their work around other life-demands which in the past may have caused them to have to take leave.

Supervisors and Team Leaders are needed in the office and can only engage in homework on an ad-hoc basis, and this could cause some of those who are very keen on homeworking to avoid promotion.

Childcare in the home while homeworking has not been the problem that some may have anticipated (and the output data confirms this.)

The functions which require face to face interaction, or large-scale printing, can be scheduled into the ‘office’ days, and minor ‘teething’ issues did arise about access to printers and consistency of engagement with clients.

Name: Richard.Davies
Contact Role: Head of Revenue and Benefits
Email: Richard.Davies@Torfaen.gov.uk