Top civil servant could go further in getting Government staff back to office

Scottish Government staff could be ordered into the office more frequently, the country’s most senior civil servant has suggested, amid concerns the requirement for employees to be in the office two days a week is “limited”.

Joe Griffin, the new permanent secretary at the Scottish Government, said he was “interested in going further in due course”.

As it stands, the Government is seeking to have staff working in the office at least two days a week from October.

Mr Griffin said the decision on that had been made “quite early” after he took up the post in April, adding he was “absolutely certain it is the right thing to do”.

The permanent secretary told MSPs on Holyrood’s Public Finance and Administration Committee that there was “evidence to suggest that people working together in person are more likely to engage in high-value activity”.

He added that working together, in person, boosted “things like innovation, creativity, building relationships”.

Mr Griffin said: “We are now leading through a process to make sure that from October people will be together at least two days a week.

“Some people have reacted to that decision, I understand some of the anxieties people have.

“But the direction of travel is clear, for the reasons I have given.”

He said he wanted to “secure the two days a week policy” and “demonstrate the benefits that it brings”, before suggesting it could be extended further.

The permanent secretary said: “Speaking personally and collectively, we have said we would be interested in going further in due course, but I think for now the two days is what we want to secure.”

Committee convener Kenneth Gibson said having staff in the office for only two days was a “limited amount”.

He noted that the requirement to work in the office more had garnered “considerable resistance from some civil servants”, despite most people regarding it as “fairly modest” .

Adding that there would be “incredulity” among some that civil servants do not already come into the office on at least two days, Mr Gibson pointed out that “public services workers from refuse collectors to teachers to nurses all have to be at their work”.

The convener added: “It does seem very modest. Prior to Covid, it was taken as read that people turned up at their work.

“Even two days a week seems a limited amount, so I am glad you are not going to stop there and you will consider pushing further forward on that.”

His comments came as Mr Griffin also told MSPs that “some reductions” could be made in the number of civil servants employed.

Last week, public finance minister Ivan McKee said the Government was aiming to make savings of £1 billion over five years through public sector reform and by cutting “back office costs” to redirect money to the front line.

Mr Griffin said: “The Scottish Government needs to be part of that.”

He told MSPs the workforce had increased in recent years as a result of factors such as new devolved powers coming to Scotland and also the need to respond to crises such as the Covid pandemic.

The permanent secretary added: “Now we’re through some of those and we’re in a more steady state with some of the additional responsibilities, I do believe we can make some reductions.”

He said there was “no optimal size in mind” for the total number of civil servants, but Mr Griffin said the “direction of travel” was to reduce this, telling MSPs: “We’re down some 5% over the course of the last three years.”