A United Kingdom union boss says the Government wasted three weeks of senior Public Servants’ time by twice changing its advice on Government employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
General Secretary of the FDA union, Dave Penman (pictured) said in March Public Servants were told to work from home if possible.
Then in early September, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said 80 per cent of them should come back to the office once a week or more by October.
With city-centre businesses such as shops and cafés suffering because of a lack of commuters, the Government embarked upon a campaign to get companies to bring more people back into the office, with the Public Service leading the way.
Now, with COVID-19 cases up, it has reverted to its earlier advice.
Mr Penman, whose union represents senior Public Servants, said Permanent Secretaries had transformed their staff from being 95 per cent office-based to 95 per cent home-based in three weeks.
“They did amazing work turning it around and then they got told to reverse much of it in the same timeframe. Well, that’s going to hit productivity, the important things that Government needs to be doing,” Mr Penman said.
“Now we’re back to where we were in the first place. At the same time you have Civil Servants being called lazy. It’s all been such a waste of time and goodwill,” he said.
The Cabinet Office, the Department which supports the Prime Minister, declined to comment on Mr Penman’s remarks.
London, 27 September 2020
