To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in the Office. [109276]

The Cabinet Office is committed to monitoring its policies and procedures to ensure there is no adverse impact on part-time staff.For example, the Department has undertaken an equality audit of its new pay procedure, which included a review of pay awards and working patterns. The results are to be published shortly.The Department promotes job opportunities for part-time staff by ensuring all departmental vacancies are open to part-time and job-sharing staff, unless there are justifiable business reasons why this is not possible.Additionally, support is also provided via a departmental network for staff with part-time and alternative working patterns. The Network also works as a consultative body and helps to shape new Human Resources policies.