Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of mandating 60 per cent office-working by departmental staff by September 2025 on productivity within her Department.

Civil Service Heads of Departments across government have agreed that the Civil Service is best able to deliver for the people it serves by taking a consistent approach to in office working. Heads of Departments agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.

The approach allows teams and departments to maximise the benefits of hybrid working and to get the best from being together. This also reflects the view of Civil Service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time working together face-to-face as the government delivers on the Missions commitments. The Civil Service approach is comparable to other large private and public sector employers.

Whilst this decision was not directly linked to productivity, the Department closely monitors performance and will continue to do so following implementation of the change. In DWP, around 35% of colleagues spend 100% of their time working in the office, delivering face-to-face services to customers. Other colleagues are able to work in a hybrid way, spending part of their time in the office and part of their time working from home.

Senior Civil Service colleagues are expected to work from the office (which includes face to face time with colleagues or partners on official business elsewhere) for more than 60% of their contracted hours, and the Department has now announced that colleagues at all other grades will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their contracted hours in the office from 1 September 2025.