Newspaper investigations have revealed plans to keep hundreds of thousands of United Kingdom Public Servants working from home for another year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even then, a return would be based only on “strong evidence” of a successful COVID-19 vaccine being developed.
Strict limits on the number of people have also been set in some Government buildings with rules requiring staff to place a cone outside toilets so other people don’t enter the room.
The exodus of staff has meant that many shops, pubs and restaurants in surrounding areas of Whitehall have been forced to shut temporarily with future re-openings now in peril.
Head of the Public Service, Alex Chisholm is on record as saying that the rise of home working would give Ministers an opportunity to shrink the Government’s office footprint by selling off some buildings in Whitehall.
This has left some Public Servants wondering whether they will ever return to Whitehall.
One Whitehall worker told journalists they had been into head office once since the pandemic began.
“They are limiting the number of staff to 50 for the whole building and I barely saw anyone when I was there,” the Officer said.
“There were about 30 people, whereas there are usually 1,000, the place was deserted, it’s like a ghost town,” they said.
A source from another Department said that while there was a phased approach to bringing staff back into the office, there was no urgency to implement it.
“I honestly don’t think Whitehall will be the same again,” the source said.
“Of course it’s sometimes necessary to come into the office and see people face-to-face, but on the other hand everyone is very capable working from home,” they said.
A Government spokesman said it was for Departments, in consultation with staff, to decide and manage who should continue to attend the workplace.
London, 18 October 2020
