Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 21 October (HL1278), what is the most recent estimate of how many days a week Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff attend the office on average, expressed as percentage of staff attending their assigned workplace over an average working week, or closest equivalent metric; and what plans ONS has to increase that average attendance rate.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

1 November 2024

Dear Baroness Neville-Rolfe,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 21 October (HL1278), what is the most recent estimate of how many days a week Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff attend the office on average, expressed as percentage of staff attending their assigned workplace over an average working week, or closest equivalent metric; and what plans ONS has to increase that average attendance rate (HL2117).

The ONS collects attendance data for each of our sites on a weekly basis. Table 1 shows the average daily number of individuals as a percentage against our headcount who have attended each office in the last four weeks for which data are available. Individuals who attend regularly will appear in this data on each day they attend an office.

It should be noted that, while our general office attendance expectation is 40% of working time in line with our estate’s capacity, this is currently set at 20% in Manchester and Darlington and has only recently been increased to 40% in Edinburgh. Additional flexibilities have been extended to colleagues where genuinely required, including a period of further adjustment which ended in October.

In addition, PCS has entered into formal dispute with the ONS in relation to these attendance expectations, taking action short of strike in the form of non-compliance with the requirements. There are currently 1161 PCS members employed by the ONS.

The ONS remains committed to office attendance and various initiatives are underway to increase the diversity and value of in-person interactions. Following our announcement in November 2023, we launched events scheduled throughout 2024 with a greater focus on in-person events. This has included an increase in the number of face-to-face ‘in conversation with the National Statistician’ events, leadership events with the Grade 6 and Grade 7 community, and the start of new site-focused events that aim to bring colleagues together and create a better community across our office locations.

With our extended flexibility provisions period ending, we would naturally expect to see some increase in office attendance. However, as trade unions have achieved a mandate to prolong action short of a strike this could continue to impact office attendance for a further period.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Average daily ONS office location attendance as a rounded percentage by week, from week beginning 16 September 2024[1].

Source: Office for National Statistics

[1]Where figures are less than 5% or not available, the specific number has been suppressed to protect the confidentiality of colleagues in line with our data policy.