Sir Chris Wormald, head of the civil service, has told MPs that he thinks a requirement to spend three days a week in the office is ‘about right’.
The cabinet secretary told the public administration and constitutional affairs committee that a 60% attendance requirement “gives people time face-to-face with their colleagues, which is very important”.
“We’ve got no plans to change that policy, so I think we’ve hit roughly the right balance.”
Earlier this week, 61% of civil servants who are members of the FDA union said they thought the current 60% attendance requirement reduced rather than enhanced productivity. Three-quarters said they were spending time in the office attending virtual meetings.
Wormald conceded that the rule would need to be applied “with a level of common sense”, on a department-by-department basis. He also hit back at recent criticism from prime minister Keir Starmer that too many Whitehall officials were “comfortable”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has tasked civil servants with making at least 5% efficiency savings in their departments, and Wormald agreed that employees should face losing their job if they did not meet their goals.
“We expect civil servants and indeed all public servants to deliver on the objectives of their job in return for the money from the taxpayer that they get,” he said.
Speaking in response to the FDA survey, general secretary of the union Dave Penman said the findings showed that civil servants oppose a “top-down blanket mandate” rather than office work per se.
“Civil servants want effective hybrid working arrangements where the focus is on what they do, not where they do it. They do not want a policy that’s been determined by tabloid headlines.”
“Our survey of over 7,000 civil servants should be a starting point for a meaningful, evidence-based dialogue which looks to the future of the civil service, instead of clinging to the past.”
Wormald’s comments come as many private sector employers tighten return-to-office mandates: mobile data analysis from Virgin Media O2 recently showed that nine in 10 workers are required to be in the office for more days each week.
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