Only 3% of staff at Education ministry in work on results day

AS CHAOS reigned on A-level results day, one might have assumed the Department for Education headquarters would have been a hive of activity.

Yet only 3 per cent of staff in London turned up to the seven-floor office in Whitehall on Thursday, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The beleaguered Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was among just 2 people seen entering the 2,000 capacity building. The dismal attendance on one of the department’s busiest days appears to be further proof that civil servants are continuing to ignore calls to return to their desks.

Mr Williamson has faced mounting criticism throughout the pandemic having struggled to assert authority over teaching unions in getting children back to school.

His reputation took a further beating this week after an 11th-hour change to the way A-levels were graded saw him issue a humiliating apology.

And now the Mail – which has monitored the number of staff entering the Department’s building between 7am and 11am over the past few weeks – can reveal just a fraction have returned to their desks.

The 2 staff recorded arriving on Thursday is in fact a marked improvement on the previous week, when just two dozen turned up. A source said the building was so empty at one point that the lifts were said to be stopping only on the ministerial floor.

For weeks, Boris Johnson has been urging workers across the country to return to their offices – including the Government’s own 430,000 workforce. There are fears city centre shops and eateries – which rely on footfall from office workers – face ruin if more employees do not return.

And yet, despite calls to lead by example, the Cabinet Office has admitted just one in five civil servants has so far done so.

Attendance records across other Whitehall departments also remain low.

Just 57 people were observed entering the headquarters of the Department of Work and Pensions at the six-floor Caxton House in London on Wednesday.

Though this is higher than the 33 recorded last week, it still equates to just 3 per cent of the 1,700 staff member.

A Government spokesman said: ‘We are consulting closely with employees on ending the default that civil servants should work from home and have ensured workplaces are Covid-secure so civil servants can return safely.’