Should civil servants return to the office?

DO THE civil service and public bodies not realise the long-term damage they are doing to their reputations and job security by continuing to work from home? The private sector, which funds the cosseted public sector, would like a bonfire of bureaucracy. We can’t afford to put up taxes or borrow more money to pay for improved public services, so we have to improve the productivity of civil servants. We also need to reduce the number of regulations they create that only serve to strangle the economy.

JOHN BECKETT, Crondall, Hants. CIVIL servants working from home are stifling economic recovery by not getting their work done. During the lockdowns, they became better off financially as they no longer had to pay commuting costs. They are lazier due to not being overseen by managers. Get back to the office and help put the country back on its feet.

N. SMITH, Blandford Forum, Dorset. WHY should taxpayers fund public servants who continue to work from home? Many others had to work their socks off to keep vital services running during the lockdowns. Why is there red tape on testing and issuing licences for HGV drivers? To persuade civil servants to return to the office, cut their pay to 80 per cent if they work at home. If they have not returned by the end of the month, hand them their notice without a pay-off!

E.J.M. GOWER, Mylor Bridge, Cornwall. IT’S disturbing to discover that the civil service work-from-home culture left stranded Britons at the mercy of the Taliban in Afghanistan during the evacuation due to reduced communications. There is a deeprooted history to this problem. As a former civil servant, I can testify to inherent lethargy, self-importance and entitlement, where any excuse not to turn up for work is accepted. Self-certificated sick leave is abused for gardening, a round of golf or Christmas shopping. A feckless colleague went on a three-week cruise for his annual two-week summer break and got a sick note from the ship’s doctor for the third week. This would be a dismissible offence in the private sector.

DAVID FLEMING, Downham Market, Norfolk. I FEEL sorry for civil servants who feel so vulnerable they continue to work from home rather than going back to the office. No doubt they have no social life, as they also avoid pubs, restaurants, theatres and sporting events.

RALPH ROWLEY, Shifnal, Shropshire.