Controversial guidance that requires most civil servants to spend at least 60% of their time working from their offices – unless they're out and about on official business – is set to stay, the Cabinet Office has announced.
The regime, introduced by the Sunak government last November as a way to cap hybrid-working freedoms that were a necessity during the pandemic, was widely criticised by civil service unions at the time.
Mark Serwotka, the then general-secretary of the PCS union, described the 60% rule as "arbitrary" and symptomatic of a "regressive" government. Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union said the 60:40 split had been "plucked from thin air by ministers to suit their political agenda".
In July, newly installed Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden signalled that the Starmer government would take a different approach to its staff to the previous administration, who he accused of "going around beating the civil service up". However today's announcement indicates that this will not involve greater flexibility on working from home.
Announcing that the 60:40 rule will stay, the Cabinet Office said that permanent secretaries and other leaders took the view that "taking a consistent approach to in-office working" was best for the civil service.
"Heads of department have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the civil service," the Cabinet Office said in a statement. "Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time.
"The approach will allow teams and departments to maximise the benefits of hybrid working and getting the best from being together. The civil service approach is comparable to other large private and public sector employers.
"This reflects the view of civil service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time working together face-to-face as the government delivers on the missions commitments."
The Cabinet Office said departmental leaders would "continue to listen to staff, to adapt to individual needs where specific changes may be required, and ensure the approach continues to meet business needs".
Weekly HQ-occupancy updates are scrapped
As well as announcing its hybrid-working decision, the Cabinet Office also today published occupancy data for departmental HQs for the July-September quarter.
The last three Conservative administrations published occupancy data on a weekly basis, however the Cabinet Office said shifting updates to a quarterly basis was "a more cost-effective way" to track the use of office space.
"This will balance the need for transparency whilst ensuring taxpayer money is used effectively by reducing the burden on departments collecting the data," it said.
Weekly occupancy updates were frequently used to fuel "back to the office" calls from Conservative ministers, although the figures do not provide a picture of the proportion of working time staff based at a particular head office spend in the building. The updates are also not reflective of wider departmental performance in terms of workplace attendance.
The latest data shows that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's Marsham Street HQ had the lowest occupancy rates of any department included in the dataset in July (56%), August (44%) and September (41%).
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Whitehall Place HQ had the highest occupancy levels, posting 100% in July, 90% in August and 93% in September.
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales was unable to provide August and September occupancy data for its Gwydyr House HQ. Occupancy in July was described as 62%.