WFH is A-OK on the MoJ? Civil servants’ workplace attendance on the Ministry of Justice plummets after Labour’s election win… regardless of officers grappling with prisons disaster
Office attendance by civil servants at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has plummeted since Labour’s general election victory, Government data has revealed.
In July, when Sir Keir Starmer‘s party returned to power after 14 years in opposition, 82 per cent of desks were occupied at the department’s headquarters in Westminster.
But this fell to 59 per cent in August and 57 per cent in September, according to monthly average building occupancy data published by the Cabinet Office.
At the same time, the MoJ was grappling with a prisons crisis which saw thousands of criminals – including convicted killers – released early in a bid to tackle jail overcrowding.
The publication of occupancy data for Whitehall buildings was paused during the general election campaign.
In the first three weeks of May, the proportion of desks occupied at the MoJ’s main building was 66 per cent, 85 per cent, and 78 per cent, respectively.
Civil servants are supposed to spend at least three days a week in the office under Whitehall rules on working from home.
Office attendance by civil servants at the Ministry of Justice, headed by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, has plummeted since Labour’s general election victory
At the same time, the MoJ was grappling with a prisons crisis which saw thousands of criminals – including convicted killers – released early in a bid to tackle jail overcrowding
Daniel Dowling-Brooks celebrates after being released outside HM Prison Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, in October. He told reporters: ‘Big up Keir Starmer’
Following the election, newly-appointed Labour ministers were reportedly ignoring the rules in a ‘less dogmatic’ approach towards staff than under the previous Tory government.
But Whitehall chiefs made a fresh commitment to the 60 per cent target at the end of October after deciding the guidance should not change.
Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, wrote to other heads of departments to reconfirm the three-day-a-week instruction.
As well as the MoJ, the headquarters of the Scotland Office (56 per cent) and Nothern Ireland Office (54 per cent) also missed the 60 per cent target in September, the most recent month for which occupancy data is available.
Alex Burghart, the Tory shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: ‘This Labour Government has made a big song and dance about getting people back to work, but they should check that their own departments are in order first.
‘If Labour wants to improve productivity, this would be a good place to start.’
By comparison, some Government departments had high occupancy levels in their head offices in the months after the election, the data showed.
The Cabinet Office and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero had some of the highest occupancy levels, with their headquarters 91 per cent and 93 per cent full, respectively, in September.
This was down from 96 per cent and 100 per cent in July. The Ministry of Defence and HMRC were among those to have had increases since July.
The recommitment of Whitehall bosses to the 60 per cent target was an apparent victory for Chancellor Rachel Reeves after she put herself at odds with Cabinet colleagues by hailing the benefits of staff working together in an office.
She hailed how she ‘leads by example’ by turning up to her Treasury workplace and said staff benefitted from ‘coming together’ to work ‘collaboratively’.
This contrasted with the stance taken by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who had criticised a ‘culture of presenteeism’ in Britain’s workplaces.
He also insisted a default right to flexible working would boost productivity and hit out at the ‘bizarre’ Tory approach of ‘declaring war on people working from home’.
Former Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg ran a long campaign to get civil servants back to their offices after the Covid pandemic when he was a Cabinet minister.
This included leaving notes on empty desks across departments saying: ‘Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.’
Whitehall sources stressed the occupancy data only referred to the number of occupied desks in a department’s headquarters.
They pointed out that some staff could be working from other offices across the country or be absent from a department’s headquarters while on visits to operational sites.
An MoJ spokesperson said: ‘The majority of Ministry of Justice staff have operational roles delivering vital frontline services, including in our prisons, courts and probation services.
‘Hybrid working applies to a minority of staff, who are expected to meet a minimum of 60 per cent office attendance where estate capacity allows.’
A Government spokesman said it was ‘misleading to suggest occupancy levels have fallen’ across departments.
They pointed out the average attendance rate across departments was 69 per cent in July to September this year, compared with 57 per cent in the same period of 2023.
‘Headquarter office occupancy was higher in July, August and September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 for the vast majority of Government departments,’ the spokesman added.
