Ministers accused of ‘mixed messages’ over work from home policy

Staff at the DHSC were told that a requirement for them to be working in Westminster between four and eight days every month had been dropped, the Guardian reported.

Whitehall departments are expected to “cautiously increase” the number of staff working in the office.

England’s order to work from home where possible was lifted on July 19 and Chancellor Rishi Sunak has highlighted the benefits of being in the office, particularly for younger workers.

In Whitehall, departments have flexibility to make working arrangements that suit their requirements.

The Guardian reported that DHSC had put its staff on notice that from September, the “minimum expectation” was they would need to be in the office for a minimum of four and a maximum of eight days every month – unless there was a business or wellbeing reason.

However, in an announcement seen by the newspaper, DHSC’s director of workplace and director of HR told staff on Thursday that “it’s clear that we cannot proceed with this phase on the planned timescale”.

A Government spokesperson said: “The Civil Service continues to follow Government guidance, as we gradually and cautiously increase the number of staff working in the office.

“Our approach, which builds on our learning during the pandemic, takes advantage of the benefits of both office and home-based working across the UK.”

Despite the official position of the Government, one Cabinet minister told the Daily Mail that civil servants working from home should face a pay cut.

“People who have been working from home aren’t paying their commuting costs so they have had a de facto pay rise, so that is unfair on those who are going into work,” the minister said.

“If people aren’t going into work, they don’t deserve the terms and conditions they get if they are going into work.”

Last week the Chancellor said it had been “really beneficial” working in an office environment early in his career and doubted whether he would have been able to build “strong relationships” with mentors over Teams or Zoom.

“That’s why I think for young people in particular being able to physically be in an office is valuable.”

In the Department for Education, skills minister Gillian Keegan estimated around 25% of staff were in on any given day “and quite frankly they are all excited to come back”.

Layla Moran, chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said the DHSC U-turn showed there was “inconsistency” in the Government’s approach.

“This is yet more mixed messaging from the Government at a time when the public and businesses need clarity,” the Liberal Democrat MP said.

“This comes just days after the Chancellor urged young people to head back to the office, showing the inconsistency at the heart of the government’s approach.

“Ministers shouldn’t be urging people back to the office at a time when cases remain high and against the Government’s own workplace safety guidance.

“Reducing transmission remains important to prevent the emergence of new variants that could evade current vaccines.”

Officials insisted the Government expected a gradual return to the workplace over the summer and Boris Johnson has stressed the need for caution.

In other developments:

– Health Secretary Sajid Javid has asked the competition watchdog to investigate the price of PCR tests for travellers.

– The latest changes to international travel rules came into effect, with fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France now being spared isolation but tourists coming back from Mexico forced to enter quarantine hotels.

– Government figures showed a further 39 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total by that measure to 130,321.

– As of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 27,429 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK.

– As of Saturday, some 47,036,796 people had received a first dose of vaccine, an increase of 37,990, while 39,429,468 are now double-jabbed, up 213,583 on the previous day.

– The Heaven nightclub in London was transformed into a pop-up vaccination centre as part of a drive to increase take-up.