While some Conservative MPs were venturing their fury over Public Servants ignoring a directive from Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to return to office working, the Cabinet Office’s own advice is that returns to Government premises will be “low”.
Last week, Mr Johnson pledged that schools would fully reopen in September.
However of the 2,000 Public Servants working at the Department of Education, which must implement the change, just 20 turned up in the office.
Former Cabinet Minister, Damian Green said the Government wanted to see teachers join nurses and other front-line workers doing their jobs normally.
“It must be time for Civil Servants to join them,” Mr Green said.
Senior Conservative, Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) said Public Servants must return to their offices — “this nonsense has got to be stopped”.
“The Government should encourage the big companies to do exactly the same, otherwise we’ll see a tsunami of job cuts by January,” Mr Duncan Smith said.
However, Cabinet Office guidance says returns to the office would be “phased in”, and some staff would continue to work from home “for several months”.
“The Civil Service supports the ability of all our staff to work as safely as possible, whether remotely or in the workplace,” the guidance said.
The guidance tells officials not to share work-stations, unless absolutely necessary, in which case they should be shared by the “smallest possible number of people”.
It said meetings were to be held virtually where possible, or in designated meeting rooms that allowed social distancing.
Visitors would be allowed “by exception and only by prior arrangement”.
“Civil Service Departments should consult with employees on how they can work safely and ensure that workplaces are COVID-19 secure to manage the risks of transmission in line with the [Government] guidelines,” the guidance said.
London, 8 August 2020
