Politics · United Kingdom · 17 hrs ago
Count finds 14% of DWP headquarters staff arrived by midday
Researchers from the Centre for Government Reform counted 317 of 2,245 DWP staff at its London headquarters by midday on a recent Friday.
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for areas including helping people into work and tackling benefit costs.
The count was made at Caxton House, the department’s central London office, and does not cover all DWP workplaces.
Civil servants are required to spend 60 per cent of the working week in the office, and the article says 1,350 staff would need to be at their desks on an average day for the DWP to meet its target.
The think-tank said the figures raise questions about whether the public gets value from government office space.
The DWP disputed the conclusions, saying the count was a flimsy basis for claims about the whole department and that its published data shows it is meeting its targets.
Researchers from the Centre for Government Reform counted 317 staff at the Department for Work and Pensions headquarters by midday on a recent Friday.
That was 14 per cent of the 2,245 staff assigned to the office, according to the Daily Mail.
The count took place outside Caxton House, the DWP’s central London office.
The Daily Mail said more than three-quarters of the building’s 1,395 spaces were empty.
The DWP said the count was a flimsy basis for broad claims and that its published data showed it was meeting attendance targets.
- Who
- Centre for Government Reform researchers counted DWP staff.
- What
- They found 317 staff had arrived at the headquarters by midday.
- When
- A recent Friday; the specific date is not stated.
- Where
- Caxton House, the DWP’s central London office.
- Why
- The researchers counted staff entering the office; the sources do not state a specific reason for the count.
Centre for Government Reform and critics
Department for Work and Pensions
Attendance
Centre for Government Reform and critics
CGR’s chief executive said the count showed rules were set but not enforced.
Department for Work and Pensions
The DWP said the count was a flimsy basis for broad claims and that its published data showed it was meeting targets.
Researchers counted 26 employees arriving at Caxton House.
The count had reached 114 employees.
The count had reached 220 employees.
The count had reached 278 employees.
Researchers had counted 317 employees, or 14 per cent of the office’s workforce.
- Staff at headquarters by midday
- 317
- Total staff assigned to office
- 2,245
- Share of workforce counted by midday
- 14 per cent
- Caxton House spaces
- 1,395
- Staff needed to meet DWP target
- 1,350 on an average day
What people are saying
This epitomises a system where rules are set but not enforced, and where nobody seems to be measuring if the public is getting value from the estate it funds.
This is a flimsy basis for sweeping claims about an entire department. We publish data on in-office attendance, and ours shows that we are meeting published targets.
It's little wonder Britain has a benefits bill spiralling out of control when the department responsible for tackling it can't even get its own staff to turn up for work.