FURIOUS Cabinet Ministers say that just one in 20 civil servants had returned to their desks.
It was the day earmarked by the PM for Brits to “accelerate” going back to work.
But one told HOAR that official estimates of one in five returning were “simply false” and compared their office to ghost ship the Mary Celeste.
Boris Johnson and civil service chief Sir Mark Sedwill had hoped Whitehall would set an example to the nation.
Instead a civil service union warned some civil servants were never coming back.
FDA chief Dave Penman boasted the civil service had “already changed for good” due to the lockdown.
He added: “The majority of civil servants are working successfully from home.
“Ministers need to recognise this and allow the civil service to manage this transition.”
The left-wing Public and Commercial Services Union even claimed the Government was “playing fast and loose” with workers’ safety by asking them to return to the office.
One government source said: “Quite a few departments are like ghost towns.
“The local sandwich shops that usually serve civil servants are on their knees.”
Another insisted that barely one or two per cent of their department’s workforce had shown up.
Ministers fear the vast majority of Whitehall officials will refuse to return until a new Cabinet Secretary replaces outgoing Sir Mark in September and formally requests them to do so.
A Government spokesman said: “We are consulting closely with employees on ending the default that civil servants should work from home, and have ensured workplaces are Covid-secure so that civil servants can return safely.”
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Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.hellofaread.com/politics/schools-councils-will-be-given-millions-of-pounds-to-put-on-extra-bus-services-to-get-all-kids-back-in-the-classroom/
