More than £30million of taxpayers’ money has been spent to help civil servants work from home during the pandemic.
According to reports, major governments and quangos have spent many millions of pounds on IT equipment for their staff.
Some also appear to have paid well over the odds – including a water watchdog that splashed out almost £180 on a simple cable that can be found for just £5.99 online.
And the quango responsible for dealing with nuclear waste also splurged nearly £500 on footrests.
This comes as a result of growing concerns that Whitehall officials are living too much and not doing their job properly.
More than £30million of taxpayers’ money has been spent to help civil servants work from home during the pandemic. The Water Services Regulation Authority splashed out £179 on one HDMI cable while the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency spent £499 on eight footrests – or £62 each. Stock image, pose by model
Top mandarin at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (office, oben) said she prefers to work remotely because it allows her to ride her Peloton exercise bikes and spend more time with her family.
This week, a whistleblower discovered that thousands upon thousands of Afghans were trying to leave their country to flee it to the Taliban. The Foreign Office’s work-from-home culture meant they had never received any of these emails.
The top mandarin of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said she prefers to work at home because it allows her to ride her Peloton exercise bicycle more often.
Joe Ventre (digital campaign manager for the TaxPayers Alliance) said last night: “Bureaucrats using taxpayer money to equip their homes will be a terrible thing for hard-hit taxpayers.
Freedom of information requests submitted to 107 Government departments and agencies by The Spectator magazine found that at least £33.3million has been spent on home-working equipment between March 2020 and September this year. The highest-spending bodies were HMRC (£7.9million) followed by NHS England (£5.9million) and the Land Registry (£2.5million)
While civil servants may have needed the equipment for work while under lockdown, paying for the items at a premium is an insult to private-sector workers.
“Mandarins should not be forced to fork out huge sums in order to move long-term remote. Unneeded office space should be sold to pay the price.”
Freedom of information requests submitted to 107 Government departments and agencies by The Spectator magazine found that at least £33.3million has been spent on home-working equipment between March 2020 and September this year.
The highest-spending bodies were HMRC (£7.9million) followed by NHS England (£5.9million) and the Land Registry (£2.5million).
Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs spent £2.8million despite only having 3,000 staff – the equivalent of more than £900 for each worker.
The Water Services Regulation Authority also splashed out £179 on one HDMI cable while the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency spent £499 on eight footrests – or £62 each.