Council Defends Policy Of Staff Home-Working

Just 8% of desk-based staff were in office

- Daniel Clark

Plymouth City Council has said that it is the norm for the majority of its previously office-based staff to be working from home and it has not affected their effectiveness.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a shift towards home and flexible working, and lockdowns have sped up that trend.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week said staff were “more productive, more energetic, more full of ideas” when they are in the workplace alongside colleagues. He added: “We need to get back into the habit of getting into the office."

A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Plymouth City Council has shown that just 8% of its desk-based staff were working in offices during a week. A council spokesperson said that the figures did not reflect large numbers of workers continuing to deliver services from non-office locations, and that restrictions on numbers who could work from offices had been dropped, but that there were many benefits to flexible working.

The FOI request had asked how many Plymouth City Council employees are currently working from home and what percentage of the office-based workforce does the number represent.

The response said that, in the week from March 28 to April 1, there were 515 desk bookings made in Ballard House, Windsor House, and Midland House, the council's three main corporate office buildings.