Ministers have been keen to bang the ‘back to the office’ drum for much of the past year. But not all in the civil service have been so keen to embrace that message, with Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, being a staunch defender of mandarins who work from home.
Walking down by the Department of Education on Great Smith Street this morning, Steerpike was struck again by how few civil servants seem to actually be in Whitehall, after a fire alarm forced the entire building to evacuate. A few disconsolate dozens stood around in huddles, with one complaining to Mr S of the ‘ghost town’ atmosphere of the ministry.
Not for nothing have residents on the street noted that, for much of the pandemic, the only rooms in the building lit up at night were those in the ministerial private offices, where unfortunate Sir Humphreys could be dragooned into coming in by their political masters.
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