4 days ago
Sadiq Khan considers flexible working hours for Londoners during heatwaves
Sir Sadiq Khan is considering whether to give Londoners flexible working hours during heatwaves.
Labour's Mayor of London has launched a survey asking for feedback on a range of proposals that could appear in the London Heat Risk Delivery Plan.
The consultation comes as Britain experiences its fourth heatwave of the year, with five regions in an amber heat health alert.
City Hall's questionnaire will run until the end of this month. The heat plan itself will then be drafted from September and published next spring.
One of the survey questions reads: 'Which of the following, if any, would you most like to see introduced to help reduce the impact of hot weather in London?'
Options presented to respondents include 'flexible working hours to avoid peak heat times'.
It is currently unclear how Sir Sadiq would be able or attempt to enforce such a policy.
If it was included in the plan, however, flexible working hours would likely apply to City Hall staff, as well as being encouraged among public sector employees in London.
Flexible hours still require staff to fulfil their contractual obligations but would allow them to adjust their start and end times as they so wish.
Other options listed in the City Hall survey include relaxed dress codes for businesses and schools, designated water points and outdoor swimming spaces.
Under another suggestion that Londoners can select, Sir Sadiq would launch 'public awareness campaigns encouraging people to reduce high heat activities'.
Examples listed in the survey include construction work and car journeys.
The suggestion that Londoners should not drive in the heat is likely to further fuel accusations that Sir Sadiq has launched a 'war on motorists' in the capital.
The Mayor's expansion of the ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) has prompted store closures across London to hit a 10-year high.
The controversial Ulez scheme means that drivers are charged £12.50 a day if their vehicles do not comply with emissions standards.
'London's climate is changing'
A statement at the start of the City Hall survey states: 'London's climate is changing, and our summers could get hotter and drier.
'We've already seen heatwaves this summer. And remember the summer of 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40C in London?
'City Hall is working with partners on a delivery plan to better prepare London for rising temperatures and extreme heat events.'
It follows plans drawn up by regulators that would allow workers to down tools during heatwaves and demand extra protection amid the hot weather.
The proposals are being developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the industry regulator, and unions are pressing for the plans to include a maximum working temperature of 27C for manual jobs.
Downing Street insisted it had 'no plans' for a specific legal maximum but the HSE is poised to tell employers they must carry out 'heat stress assessments' past a certain temperature.
The Government has already pledged to 'modernise' health and safety rules around extreme temperatures.
According to the Met Office, summers in the UK are likely to peak at 45C in the near future and unions are lobbying for workers to be protected from increasingly frequent high temperatures.
The development of a London-specific heat plan was a key recommendation of the London Climate Resilience Review, which was produced for City Hall last year.
The review, led by Emma Howard Boyd, a former chairman of the Environment Agency, told Sir Sadiq he 'must do more to enable investment in climate resilience'.
Describing higher temperatures as a 'significant occupational risk', it suggested employers must go further to look after staff in hot weather and noted the lack of a maximum temperature.
The document said: 'Employers and sector representative bodies must make sure workers are safe in heat… We heard from workers in one NHS trust that in the July 2022 heatwaves, indoor temperatures were over 30 degrees throughout the night, putting patients and staff under tremendous strain.
'The UK has no legal maximum temperatures for work. Unions have been calling for maximum working temperatures since 2008.'
