Part of 3. Questions to the Assembly Commission – in the Senedd at 3:17 pm on 14 November 2018.
Thank you very much for that answer, Joyce Watson, and I'm sure we'll all be very proud of that recognition and we would want to continue this institution's reputation as one of the best family-friendly employers.
One of the consequences, as you will know, historically, is that women taking flexible working practices have faced issues in terms of promotion. I would be very surprised if that were the case here. However, it has been the case in Scandinavian countries, for example, that where equal opportunities are offered and men and women start to take up flexible working practices, it can be the case that men end up being discriminated against because, somehow, it's more culturally acceptable for a woman to work shorter hours because she needs to spend time with her children than it is for a man to make a similar decision.
Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that that would be happening here, but can I ask if the Commission will consider looking at the sex balance between men and women in terms of who is taking up those flexible working practices? And I would imagine that we are probably doing better than many employers and that we probably have got more male staff taking those opportunities. But could you also take a look at what levels those people are and whether, over time, there is any effect on people's career progression, men or women, if they choose to take flexible working practices? I'm not suggesting that this is the case, but having seem some evidence from elsewhere, I think that we would want to be sure that we avoided any unintended consequences from what is, in itself, very good practice.