‘Helping people to improve their work/life balance’

WITH the arrival of glorious spring weather came the first loosening of the Covid restrictions.

As of March 29, we are no longer required to ‘stay home’ or indeed ‘stay local’ and groups of up to six people (or two households) can mix outside.

Pubs, shops and normality are now firmly on the horizon.

But as well as looking forward to seeing friends and loved ones, we know the workplace beckons.

And whilst it is, of course, important to see colleagues and interact, there will be some aspects of the last 12 months that will endure.

Why should every office meeting be held face-to-face if we can do it on Zoom?

Why should we waste hours on congested, stressful commutes when we can do (at least some of) the job from home?

If it’s possible, and indeed desirable, to move to hybrid working arrangements between home and office, one of my priorities is to make that achievable.

First, there is the issue of broadband speed.

Overall the Newbury constituency is well above the national average for Gigabit coverage (at 66.3 per cent). However, I have joined many parish councils at recent virtual meetings and been struck by the number of times broadband speed has been raised.

It is obviously impossible for residents to undertake meaningful work from home without adequate coverage, which is why I have been lobbying Ofcom and the

Government for improvements.

Last week I was delighted to hear that Ofcom had revised its decision on access to the forthcoming Gigabit voucher scheme, bringing RG20, (and much of the) RG17 and RG7 postcodes into scope.

This will deliver Gigabit broadband to well over 5,000 more households.

And where other blackspots remain, I will continue to work on this.

Second, there is the cost of travel.

A season ticket between Newbury and Reading costs just less than £2,000 per year, and to London it is over £5,000. These are huge costs for any household, but more so if the person only needs to work two or three days in the office. I have been campaigning for new flexible season tickets to reflect future working patterns and bring household costs down for West Berkshire’s residents.

I am hoping the Government will make a decision on this in the coming months.

Third, I am campaigning for improved flexible working rights in the forthcoming Employment Bill.

Whilst the employer should of course retain the right to set the terms of any flexibility (whether hours or location), all the evidence shows that flexible working is the most valued feature of the workplace after pay, has huge benefits for productivity and the retention of women.

After everything we have been through, I think we can do better than our current laws on this and I’m determined to secure improvements.

Over the last year we’ve endured so much.

But many of us have also valued quality time with family and in our communities and reassessed our priorities. I want to enable West Berkshire’s residents to improve their work/life balance wherever possible and bring down the cost of living.

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There will be some aspects of the last 12 months that will endure