A BURY business leader has welcomed the decision to rule out the automatic right for parents to work flexible hours.

And Andrew Ratcliff, chief executive of Bolton and Bury Chamber, is urging the Government to invest in a targeted support package to help small firms implement the new imposed duty to consider requests to work flexible hours.

His comments come following the recent publication of The Work and Parents Task Force Report.

Mr Ratcliff commented: "The vast majority of local businesses who we represent, many of them small companies with a small staffing structure, oppose a statutory right to work flexible hours on the basis that firms already provide flexible working patterns where they can. "Companies recognise that their employees are their greatest asset and pursue 'family friendly' policies because that makes good business sense."

And he added: "They rather resent government interference and yet more red tape.

"We have concerns that some firms will find the new requirement for them to consider requests to work flexible hours difficult to implement and will increasingly be faced with tribunal cases."

Mr Ratcliff continued: "We believe the Government should invest in providing guidance and consultancy support if an employer and employee cannot agree on flexible working hours.

"This would not only help reduce the employer's fear of a tribunal but might also help provide a solution for the employee.

"A fully funded consultancy service to guide small firms through the maze of flexible working rights would be less costly for the Government than the tribunal process."

He concluded: "This would further demonstrate its commitment to helping small firms, rather than hindering them through regulations it is imposing."