Whitehall departments, quangos, and the NHS have collectively spent nearly £1.3 million of taxpayers’ money on work-from-home equipment in the past year, according to an investigation by The Mail on Sunday. This spending covers desks, office chairs, monitors, keyboards, and other IT equipment intended to support hybrid working arrangements that gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report highlights significant contracts such as the Department of Health and Social Care’s £386,380 purchase of home working equipment and the Land Registry’s budget of up to £470,000 for similar purposes.
This wave of expenditure coincides with ongoing resistance within the public sector to a full return to office-based work. Labour has recently faced criticism for allegedly allowing a persistent work-from-home culture among civil servants, with office attendance across government ministries dropping from 75% in March 2023 to 72% by June. The Cabinet Office reportedly experienced the largest decline. Meanwhile, South Cambridgeshire District Council stirred controversy by permitting staff to work just four days a week, a policy Housing Secretary Steve Reed has mandated to revert to a five-day week.
Conservative housing spokesman Gareth Bacon voiced strong opposition to the continued investment in home working setups, stating, “It is extraordinary that taxpayers’ money is spent to facilitate working from home. At a time when productivity is plunging, taxpayers deserve better. These officials need to get back to the office and do the work for which taxpayers pay them.” His comments underscore a broader political debate about the balance between flexible working arrangements and the perceived need for public sector efficiency.
Individual public bodies have varied in their spending and justification for work-from-home support. United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which allocated £33,000 specifically for radiographers to read scans remotely, cited operational needs across multiple sites and the importance of a “robust digital infrastructure” resilient to external disruptions such as extreme weather or future pandemics. Similarly, the Land Registry defended its contract by explaining that equipment purchases are made “if and when required,” suggesting a responsive rather than blanket approach to remote working support.
Looking beyond England, the Scottish Government reported nearly £99,000 spent on home working equipment over three years, including items similar to those purchased elsewhere, reflecting a consistent investment trend in facilitating remote work across public administrations. Other public sector organisations have also demonstrated similar commitments; for instance, the Greater London Authority approved a supplementary budget of up to £150,000 for IT and office equipment to help staff and Assembly Members working remotely maintain their productivity.
The reliance on home working equipment emerges amid broader challenges facing the public sector, including longstanding concerns about outdated technology. A government report highlighted that failure to modernize IT infrastructure has cost the public sector an estimated £45 billion in potential annual savings, partly due to inefficiencies and cyber vulnerabilities, especially in the NHS. This context may partly explain the continuing investment in home-working technology as part of broader digital transformation efforts.
Some departments have gone further in their investments. HM Revenue & Customs, for example, has spent over £80 million on remote working devices such as laptops, tablets, and desktops over the past three years, a figure that starkly contrasts with the smaller sums spent by other public bodies but reflects the significant scale and complexity of its operations.
Overall, the substantial public sector expenditure on home working equipment underscores a sustained commitment to hybrid and remote work models even as political pressures mount to return to traditional office settings. Stakeholders remain divided on the productivity and efficiency implications of these arrangements, highlighting a tension that is likely to shape future public sector workplace policies.
📌 Reference Map:
- [1] (Daily Mail) - Paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- [2] (Scottish Government FOI) - Paragraph 7
- [5] (Greater London Authority) - Paragraph 8
- [6] (Government report on IT) - Paragraph 9
- [7] (HMRC spending report) - Paragraph 10
Source: Noah Wire Services