Civil servants have been ordered to return to the office, with government departments told to rapidly get back to “full occupancy” after the lifting of plan B Covid-19 restrictions in England.
But the announcement on Friday night sets up a clash between the government and unions, who have warned against a “headlong rush” back to workplaces with coronavirus cases still high. Across the UK, 95,787 positive tests were reported on Friday.
No date was provided for the return but Steve Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, said it was important to maximise the use of office space from next week.
“Now we are learning to live with Covid and have lifted plan B measures, we need to move away from a reliance on video meetings and get back to the benefits of face-to-face, collaborative working,” Barclay said.
He is expected to raise the issue at cabinet next week and urged ministers to make sure their offices were working at full capacity as soon as possible, the Cabinet Office said in a statement.
Barclay’s call for government departments to…
