Just 5% back at minister’s own office

BUSINESS Secretary Alok Sharma led calls this week urging firms to get workers back to their desks.

But he faced accusations of hypocrisy last night after just 5 per cent of his own department’s 1,800 staff arrived at its central London HQ.

Just 95 were seen entering the Whitehall building on Thursday morning, even though the Government has urged the country – and its own 430,000 workforce – to return to their desks. Earlier this week, Mr Sharma said: ‘If you need to come in you should. I hope what we will see is people coming back into the workplace and, yes, I personally would like to see London vibrant again.’

Last night, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Sharma should note the proverb ‘Physician, heal thyself’, adding: ‘The Government has control of departments. There’s a very strong case they should say to civil servants, “You must come back”. It’s safe and there’s no excuse.’

The Mail has monitored the number of staff going to work at several Whitehall departments between 7.15am and 11am in the past month.

Just 39 entered the Department of Work and Pensions on Wednesday, which is 18 less than a fortnight ago and equates to just over 2 per cent of the 1,700 who worked there before lockdown. At the Department for Education there was still very little change in numbers, with only 3 per cent of staff turning up on Wednesday.

Its boss Gavin Williamson was among 64 people seen entering – an increase of just two in a fortnight.

A recent Mail poll found 51 per cent of Britons believed civil servants should set an example to the country.

Attendance across other Whitehall departments remains low, but the number seen to return is beginning to increase slowly. The largest increase was at the office housing more than 2,200 staff from the Treasury and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, where 227 signed in – up from 178 two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, 238 staff arrived at the main entrance to the Home Office headquarters – up from 198.

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable called on Mr Sharma’s ministry to ‘show by example’.

A Government spokesman said: ‘It is safe to return to a Covid-secure workplace and government departments have ensured appropriate measures are in place to enable as many civil servants as possible to return safely.’

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was also accused of hypocrisy yesterday after urging Britons to get back to work. When an interviewer pointed out to him that he was still at his Hertfordshire home, Mr Shapps said he had commuted to the Department for Transport ‘on an ad hoc basis’.