A senior United Kingdom Public Servant who said she preferred working from home because she could spend more time on her exercise bike has been told to “get off her peloton and get back to her desk”.
The rebuke to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Sarah Healey came from Chair of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden speaking at his party’s conference.
Mr Dowden (pictured), who was Minister for Culture before a reshuffle, said that while he liked Ms Healey, “I am disagreeing with her on this one”.
“I think people need to get off their pelotons and get back to their desks. People really want the Government to lead by example,” Mr Dowden said.
“They want Civil Servants to get back to work.”
He said there were currently more desks occupied at Conservative Party headquarters than in his former Department.
However, General Secretary of the FDA union which covers senior Public Servants, Dave Penman was quick to defend Ms Healey and other Public Servants working from home.
“Dowden has managed to simultaneously undermine the Permanent Secretary who loyally served him, knowing she can’t answer back, while insulting hundreds of thousands of dedicated Public Servants. Is that his idea of hybrid working?” Mr Penman asked.
“As the Civil Service, the broader public sector and thousands of companies in the private sector already know, what you deliver is far more important than where it’s delivered from.”
He said the pandemic had driven a quiet revolution in working practices that had seen innovation and reform from both the public and private sectors.
“Yet despite the incredible feats performed, Ministers continue to want to stand in the way of progress and reform for the sake of a quick headline,” Mr Penman said.
“The hypocrisy of Ministers, who are happy to bank the savings in office space delivered by hybrid working, but decry the practice before the party faithful, is frankly insulting to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of hundreds of thousands of Public Servants,” the union General Secretary said.
London, 8 October 2021
