SNP civil servants say order to work in office two days a week ‘an attack on human rights'
Scottish Government civil servants have complained that their human rights are being breached after being ordered to be in the office two days a week, it has been reported.
The SNP Government has told its officials they must return to the office for 40 per cent of their working week as part of a drive to improve productivity.
They must hit the benchmark as an average over the course of a month, allowing them to spend some weeks working entirely from home so long as they come into the office more on subsequent occasions.
The 40 per cent figure is lower than the equivalent Whitehall policy, which states that civil servants must spend at least 60 per cent of their time working in the office.
But the Sunday Times reported that Scottish Government officials were furious at the edict and had complained about the cost of commuting to their offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Insiders also said they had protested about the environmental impact of them driving to work and had made complaints about 'an attack on their human rights'.
Stephen Kerr, a Scottish Tory MSP, said the pushback against office working was 'frankly laughable' and an 'insult' to those who had never had the option to work from home.
'Government jobs are not a lifestyle perk – they are a well-paid public duty,' he said. 'Taxpayers fund these jobs, and they deserve a government workforce that turns up, works hard and delivers.
'Ministers should have enforced this long ago – government is not a Zoom meeting.'
It emerged last year that the SNP administration's two main buildings in Edinburgh were more than half empty most of the time.
A freedom of information response showed the Scottish Government's St Andrew's House headquarters was never more than 38 per cent full between December 2023 and January last year, while the huge Victoria Quay premises in Leith was only 30.5 per cent full at most.
Previous SNP Government guidance said there was no 'centrally fixed mandated number of days' that staff needed to attend the office, but there was an 'expectation' that they would do so ' at least once per week '.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Our updated approach will expect people to work 40 per cent of their time in person from October 2025, including time spent working with stakeholders, as well as in government buildings.
'The new approach aims to strengthen working relationships and it will offer additional support and development to the third of Scottish Government colleagues who have joined post pandemic and have had reduced opportunities to network, develop and connect in person.'
He said the working from home 'may not be an option for certain roles' and trade unions would be consulted on the changes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Scotland 'should not be treated as afterthought' of HS2 project
Last week, the UK Government admitted the flagship infrastructure project had been 'no less than a litany of failure'. The Labour administration blamed the previous Tory government for the overruns. The link to Scotland for the project was cancelled in June 2022, with the route from Birmingham to Manchester scrapped by former Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2024. READ MORE: UK providing 'political cover' for US and Israel after Iran attack Now, the scheme is running £37 billion over budget, and has been delayed beyond 2033. The UK's Secretary of State for Transport, MP Heidi Alexander, told the House of Commons last week: 'I'm drawing a line in the sand – calling time on years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight. 'It means this government will get the job done between Birmingham and London. 'We won't reinstate cancelled sections we can't afford.' Alexander (above) also admitted there was 'no reasonable way to deliver' on the 2033 target for the first trains to run between London and Birmingham. The SNP are now urging the UK Government to look again at extending the line to Scotland, after taxpayers north of the border will have contributed to the project but see no benefit. Willie Coffey, SNP MSP, said: 'The fact the UK cannot construct a high-speed rail network - the norm in many countries around the world - speaks for itself. 'While we know HS2 won't have any stations in Scotland, with the way things are going it'll be lucky to have any stations in England either.' Coffey pointed to claims made during the 2014 independence referendum that a Yes vote would jeopardise Scotland's opportunity to benefit from HS2 'only to find that promptly after the referendum the connections to Scotland were ditched'. READ MORE: Douglas Alexander refuses to set out route to Scottish independence 'This is nothing new sadly, 30 years ago we were promised that Scotland would be connected to the Eurostar - but that was dumped despite Scotland's sizeable contribution to paying for the creation of the Channel Tunnel,' he added. "Promises broken and public money squandered is par for the course for Westminster. It's clear we need to get Scotland's finances and transport investment out of the hands of Westminster and into Scotland's hands with independence." It comes after new HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild said the 'overall situation with respect to cost, schedule and scope is unsustainable' in a letter to Alexander. He said costs would continue to rise if ministers did not renegotiate engineering contracts awarded in 2020. Wild also said that the testing phase alone would be likely to take three years, rather than the 14 months that had been previously assumed. The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment. The £3bn Scottish link to HS2 was quietly dropped by the then-Tory government just 30 minutes before the result of a no-confidence vote on Boris Johnson was announced. When Sunak cancelled the Manchester leg at the 2023 Tory party conference, he said the money would be diverted to other public transport projects and roads in the North of England and the Midlands.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Blair 'helping' Scottish Labour with SNP election battle
It is expected to be a large part of Labour's campaigning next May as it seeks to make the problems in the NHS a central issue. It reportedly working on how to improve access to GPs and use technology to drive down waiting lists. There is no fee involved in the work. READ MORE: The former PM is a controversial figure inside and outwith Labour despite being the only person to lead the party to consecutive election wins. Mr Blair led Labour between 1995 and 2007. He was Prime Minister from 1997 for 10 years, winning three general elections. Scotland's NHS is facing huge problems, with one in six Scots on a waiting list for treatment. Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, told The Times: 'Our NHS is stretched to breaking point and technology is a way to ease that pressure — but the SNP is squandering the opportunity. "From GP practices using fax machines to doctors relying on pagers, the SNP is running an analogue health service in a digital age. GPs have been sounding the alarm about how a woeful lack of basic IT is holding them back — it's time we have a government that will listen. 'A Scottish Labour government will put Scotland on the cutting edge of medical innovation and modernise our NHS so it is fit for the future.' A Tony Blair Institute spokesman said: 'We are always happy to talk to any and all political parties who are interested in our work, all of which is published and publicly available." SNP MSP Clare Haughey said: 'That Anas Sarwar is taking advice on health from an organisation which has previously called for the selling of NHS patient's data for money is truly beyond belief. 'It is unbelievable that Scottish Labour are looking to the man that led us into the disastrous Iraq war to tell them what is best for Scotland. "Labour have nothing positive to offer Scotland - rather than listening to the people of Scotland, Labour are relying on the advice of has-beens like Tony Blair. "The SNP is the only party with a clear plan to build a better future for Scotland - improving our NHS, supporting families and workers through the cost-of-living crisis and creating new opportunities with the powers of independence."
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Tony Blair to help Scottish Labour beat SNP
Sir Tony Blair has been enlisted to help Scottish Labour oust the SNP from power in next year's Holyrood election. The former prime minister's Institute for Global Change has been asked to help the party develop new health policies. They have been earmarked for Scottish Labour's manifesto for next May's Holyrood election, with the SNP's record on running the NHS expected to be one of the key issues. The Sunday Times reported that the institute is working for no fee on proposals for how to improve access to GPs and measures to prevent illness. It is also expected to make proposals about how 'more effective use of technology solutions' will help drive down record waiting lists for operations. Sir Tony's not-for-profit institute works in more than 40 countries and focusses on harnessing new technologies and artificial intelligence to reform how governments are run and public services delivered. But the former prime minister, who won three general elections, remains a controversial figure within and outside the Labour Party. A review by Audit Scotland has warned that 'difficult decisions' may be needed about whether some NHS services can continue, with major reform 'urgently needed' to cope with growing demand. First Minister John Swinney unveiled his NHS recovery blueprint in January and admitted there were crises in parts of the health service. But unions and professional bodies representing Scotland's NHS medics attacked the plan's lack of detail, and questioned where the funding and staff would come from. SNP ministers have also faced heavy criticism for failing to develop an NHS app, which has been available to patients in England since 2019. It is hoped that a trial of the Scottish app will be launched by the end of this year, but it will have limited functionality compared with its English equivalent. A Tony Blair Institute spokesman said: 'We are always happy to talk to any and all political parties who are interested in our work, all of which is published and publicly available. 'The conversations we have had with Scottish Labour are specifically around how our health policy proposals could apply to healthcare in Scotland. We intend to publish this work regardless of the outcome of the election.' Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: 'Our NHS is stretched to breaking point and technology is a way to ease that pressure — but the SNP is squandering the opportunity. 'From GP practices using fax machines to doctors relying on pagers, the SNP is running an analogue health service in a digital age. GPs have been sounding the alarm about how a woeful lack of basic IT is holding them back — it's time we have a government that will listen. 'A Scottish Labour government will put Scotland on the cutting edge of medical innovation and modernise our NHS so it is fit for the future.' At the end of March, there were 63,403 people waiting for outpatient treatment that had been continuing for more than a year, an increase of 34 per cent compared with 12 months previously. They included 5,262 cases waiting two years or more for treatment, a record high. Angus Robertson, chair of the SNP's campaign committee, said: 'It speaks volumes that Scottish Labour are relying on the advice of the man to led us into a disastrous, illegal war in Iraq to tell them what is best for Scotland. 'Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar have no vision for Scotland's future and rather than listening to the people of Scotland, they can only look backwards at a discredited, unpopular figure like Tony Blair. 'Only the SNP is offering people a positive, ambitious vision for Scotland's future — improving our NHS, tackling the cost of living and ensuring Scotland reaches its full potential with the powers of independence.'
