Office ban to stay for UK officials in Scotland
NEARLY 25,000 UK Government civil servants in Scotland have been told to continue working from home, despite Boris Johnson ordering Whitehall back to the office.
The Prime Minister led the call for civil servants to get back to their desks as soon as possible in an effort to get the economy moving again.
But UK Government employees working in Scotland have been told by Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill they should ‘continue to adhere’ to Scottish Government guidance.
Nicola Sturgeon has said all nonessential offices and call centres must remain closed – and yesterday one of the First Minister’s coronavirus advisers warned against a return because of the strain it would put on virus testing.
There are currently 24,300 staff working in the ‘reserved civil service’ in Scotland. They include employees in the Department for International Development, the Scotland Office, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The UK Government is due to open a new ‘hub’ office in Edinburgh next week, although most staff will be advised to continue to work from home if they can.
In a letter to all Whitehall ministries, Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark and civil service chief Alex Chisholm said the Prime Minister has ‘made clear his aim is to get as many people back to workplaces as possible’ in a safe way.
But the letter, seen by the Mail, also states: ‘Departments with staff situated in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will continue to adhere to the relevant national guidance for those workplaces.’
Scotland Office staff who work from the main London office, Dover House, will be expected to return to work, but those based north of the Border will be advised to continue working from home if possible.
A spokesman for the UK Government in Scotland said: ‘The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland works across two sites in London and Edinburgh. In line with the Cabinet Secretary’s letter, we are following local advice.’
The Scottish Government has signalled that working from home will remain the ‘default’ position for its staff for some time to come.
A total of 18,900 staff work in the ‘devolved civil service’. Miss Sturgeon has not given any indication of when she will give the green light for non-essential offices to return.
Professor Devi Sridhar, a member of the Scottish Government’s Covid19 advisory group, yesterday told Sky News any mass return to offices would put pressure on the testing system in the same way as the return to school of pupils did last month.
She said: ‘What we’ve seen in the past few weeks is the testing system has just been really having to race to catch up with the demand of all the children coming home with coughs and colds and fevers.
‘If you add on top of that all the adults coming back into offices and having those as well, your testing system is really under strain.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Working from home remains the default position across Scotland during phase three of the route map and continues to have a positive impact on suppressing coronavirus.’
‘We are following local advice’