Full article:
Staff have been told their attendance will now be tracked, with bosses collecting data from the access gates at the front of the main building in Whitehall.
Civil servants are now expected to come into the office some of the time, but Rishi Sunak has stopped short of ordering them back for a specific number of days per week, as other departments have done.
Although many government buildings have access gates that require a security pass, the Treasury is thought to be the first department to specifically inform employees that their attendance will be recorded using this method.
Although the Treasury says it has seen a “significant increase” in office occupancy, it also appears to have accepted that its staff will partially work from home indefinitely. Job adverts for senior positions stipulate that applicants will be required in the office between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of the time.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Cabinet Office minister, has led a charge for “government efficiency” in Whitehall - promising to reduce the overall headcount of civil servants, which swelled during the Brexit process and Covid pandemic.
He has also made clear that he expects government employees to return to the office, with departments and agencies that do not use their floor space in central London warned they could lose it.
Departments are expected to work towards “full capacity” in the office, which is defined as a full office rather than all employees in work every day, since most departments now have more staff than desks.
The Treasury’s latest clampdown on working from home comes after the Department for Education told its employees they were expected to work from the office at least four days a week. The Cabinet Office also started collecting attendance records.
A government source told The Telegraph: “It has taken far too long for departments to shake off their lockdown mindset, but taxpayers and voters should take heart at reports that Whitehall is taking this seriously.”
A league table of departments with the most absent employees, compiled by Mr Rees-Mogg last month, showed that just a quarter of staff at the Department for Education were going into work each day.
The figures were similar at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
In contrast, the Department for International Trade had almost three-quarters of staff at their desks every day.
A government spokesman said: "The Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary have been clear they want to see office attendance across the Civil Service consistently back at pre-pandemic levels and we are seeing significant increases in occupancy which continues to be closely monitored.
"There is total agreement across government on there being clear benefits from face to face, collaborative working and we know that this is particularly important for the learning and development of new and junior members of staff.”
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