Union chiefs have slammed Boris Johnson’s order to return thousands of civil servants to their desks and insisted they won’t be used ‘as an example to get everybody back to work’.
The Prime Minister has told mandarins to tear up the ‘work from home’ guidance which has been in place since March and start getting officials back to the office from the end of next week – despite many top firms still encouraging employees to work remotely.
In a letter to all Whitehall ministries, civil service chief Alex Chisholm said it was time to ‘change the default that civil servants should work from home, and accelerate the return to the workplace from August 1’.
However, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the UK’s largest civil service trade union, is telling its members not to buckle under pressure from No10.
A spokesman said: ‘We told the Cabinet Office in a meeting yesterday that this was completely unacceptable.
‘That demand is not based on our members’ health and safety, or on helping our economy, it is based entirely on political pressure being exerted by some Tory MPs who are demanding that the civil service is used as an example to get everybody back to work.
‘People should only go back to work when it is safe to do so. Everyone’s health and safety must be the top priority.
Boris Johnson has told mandarins to tear up the ‘work from home’ guidance which has been in place since March and start getting officials back to the office from the end of next week
‘We told the Cabinet Office that we weren’t prepared to accept this and they agreed to a meeting next week to start looking at the type of things that can be done to ensure that everyone can be safe. Further talks will take place next week.e
‘Our advice to members is clear, if you are working from home and you get approached by anyone in your department asking you to now go back to work, don’t just accept that’s what you have to do.’
The spokesman added: We are determined, having come so far in this pandemic and having done so well to deliver public services, that we do not throw away members’ safety because of the demands of politicians.
Meanwhile Britain’s biggest businesses have told hundreds of thousands of office staff to carry on working at home despite growing fears for city centre shops and eateries, a Mail audit has found.
Top firms employing 400,000 staff have only sent back about 40,000 to the workplace so far, after many switched to remote working during the virus crisis.
Unilever, BT, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline are among those who still have no immediate plans to do so, despite official guidance giving the all-clear from August 1.
But Whitehall departments have been told to prepare assessments of ‘productivity impacts associated with remote working… and your plans to address any backlogs in service fulfilment that have built up as a result of enforced absence from office working’.
Unilever, BT, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline are among those who still have no immediate plans to do so, despite official guidance giving the all-clear from August 1
The Mail revealed this week that huge delays have built up for key services including passports, driving licences and birth certificates after Government departments sent thousands of key staff home.
Figures showed that more than 400,000 people are waiting for a passport, with advice now saying to only apply if travelling urgently.
The Prime Minister has told officials he wants the backlog cleared by the end of September.
He is said to be convinced that the ‘work from home’ edict has proved a major blow to productivity.
During a visit to a GP surgery in east London yesterday Mr Johnson said: ‘I want to see a massive effort now by the country to psychologically to stop thinking of coronavirus as something that makes it impossible to do things and start really looking at tackling the problems of the British people.’
The Prime Minister’s plan to get Britain back to a semblance of normality was dealt a blow as top firms told staff they can continue to work remotely
But the Prime Minister’s plan to get Britain back to a semblance of normality was dealt a blow as top firms told staff they can continue to work remotely. Several bosses say they now expect home working to become the ‘new normal’.
M&G, one of Britain’s biggest fund managers, said it was in no rush for staff to return and that remote working would ‘continue for the foreseeable future’. But critics warned the prolonged office exodus could deal a terminal blow to the High Street unless more staff return. Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith, a former work and pensions secretary, said big companies had ‘an obligation to get people back to work’.
A Mail audit of 60 top firms found many had yet to plan a return to the office. Just one quarter had plans to bring staff back in the next two months.
Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, Pearson, RBS and Vodafone – which employ a combined 70,000 – are among those who are not planning to do so until next year.
A Mail audit of 60 top firms found many had yet to plan a return to the office. Just one quarter had plans to bring staff back in the next two months
We may have to wear masks for another year, warns PM
By Jason Groves and Arthur Martin for the Daily Mail
Masks could remain compulsory in shops for at least a year, Boris Johnson suggested yesterday.
The Prime Minister declined to put a precise time scale on the new rules requiring people to wear a face covering in all shops or face a £100 fine.
And he implied the mask policy was likely to stay in place for many months as the Government tries to open up the economy while avoiding a second wave of coronavirus.
On a visit to a GP surgery in east London, during which he donned a mask, the PM said lifting the rule would ‘depend on our continued ability to drive down the virus’.
The Prime Minister declined to put a precise time scale on the new rules requiring people to wear a face covering in all shops or face a £100 fine
However, Mr Johnson added it was likely to be ‘the middle of next year’ before the UK was ‘well on the way past it’.
Attempts to make sure people wear masks in shops hit teething problems as the rules came into force yesterday.
Police and retailers refused to enforce the requirement and the care minister suggested people should not be ‘accosted’ if they failed to wear one.
Officers claimed they do not have the resources and said the ‘greater onus’ should be on shopkeepers to make sure their customers cover their faces.
But supermarkets insisted it is up to the police to enforce the rules and said their staff would not be challenging those without masks amid fears of violent attacks.
Wearing a mask also became compulsory in banks, post offices, shopping centres, petrol stations and transport hubs yesterday.
The PM implied the mask policy was likely to stay in place for many months as the Government tries to open up the economy while avoiding a second wave of coronavirus
Only young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt. Police chiefs across the country said their officers would not be routinely enforcing the regulations and they would only be sent out ‘as a last resort’.
Thousands of people were spotted visiting shops yesterday without wearing a face covering.
Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Asda and Morrisons have said it is not up to their workers to enforce the rules.
In a branch of Sainsbury’s, one shopper was pelted with a tub of double cream by a woman for not wearing a mask.
The supermarket said it will display posters and make regular loudspeaker announcements asking customers to wear a mask, but it was not the responsibility of staff to challenge them.
But branches of McDonald’s ordered customers without face coverings to leave the restaurants.
Police chiefs across the country said their officers would not be routinely enforcing the regulations and they would only be sent out ‘as a last resort’
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said: ‘Police officers are yet again adapting to a new set of unprecedented laws and guidelines which they wouldn’t have even dreamed of before lockdown.
‘It is our members who are expected to police what is a new way of living and I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear: if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in.’
But care minister Helen Whately called for a softly-softly approach and pointed out that some people, including those with autism and conditions like anxiety, are exempt from wearing them.
She predicted that ‘most people’ would wear a mask voluntarily, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are expecting people to be reasonable about this. And we don’t want to see members of the public accosted for not wearing a face mask.’
Some retailers have raised concerns that asking shop staff to enforce the measures will lead to further abuse against them.
Jo Whitfield, from the Co-op, said: ‘On a daily basis they face abuse, threatening behaviour and even physical assault. Our own figures show that during the Covid crisis such instances have risen and enforcing the wearing of face masks could be another flashpoint that shop workers don’t need.’
Make them pretty and colour co-ordinated, says Sam Cam
By Claudia Joseph for the Daily Mail
She has graced the top ten of Tatler’s Best Dressed list, is a clothes designer of note and also an ambassador for the British Fashion Council.
Now Samantha Cameron, who launched her label Cefinn three years ago, has created a face mask for a care worker charity – and recommends making them ‘pretty and colour coordinated’.
Samantha Cameron has created a face mask for a care worker charity
Speaking on the day that masks became mandatory, she said: ‘In these difficult times, a pretty face mask can be a little more uplifting to see when you are out and about. Sometimes you want or need to be a bit more colour coordinated.’
Mrs Cameron, 49, designed a £25 mask to match her cobalt Leopard Pansy print dresses after being approached by her former special adviser Isabel Spearman, who writes a newsletter The Daily Dress Edit. She is one of five designers who created coordinating masks and dresses for the Match Your Mask campaign, raising money for The Intensive Care Society, the only organisation in the UK to support overstretched intensive care workers.
Mrs Cameron posted a photograph of herself on Instagram, left, in Cefinn’s £390 Silk Pussy-Bow Midi Dress and matching mask. The design is now sold out and she is considering whether to create another.
She said: ‘As it is now compulsory to wear a face mask in stores and on public transport, many people will want to stay safe and use masks that are stylish and sustainable.’