SNP civil servants request swimming pool and pay rise to return to office

Telegraph

5 days ago

The SNP's work-from-home civil servants requested the reopening of a swimming pool and a pay rise after being ordered back into the office for two days a week.
The Scottish Government told its officials they must return to the office for 40 per cent of their working week from October as part of a drive to improve productivity.
Internal responses from staff, obtained under a freedom of information request, showed widespread complaints about the change, including a request for a pay rise to cover commuting costs.
One official requested the reopening of a swimming pool, which shut in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, at the Government's Victoria Quay offices in Leith.
Among the other responses, obtained by The Scottish Sun, were a call for 'shush' spaces to relax at work and complaints about being deprived of longer lunchtime walks.
Stephen Kerr, a Scottish Tory MSP, described the complaints as a ' masterclass in entitlement and woke whinging '.
He added: 'Civil servants whinging about missing their lunchtime strolls and the swimming pool should remember who pays their wages. This is the SNP's Scotland – high taxes for working families while some public sector staff treat home working as a lifestyle choice.
'It's no wonder public services are in decline when the culture inside government is so divorced from reality. The public won't forget who let this attitude take root.'
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'.
Under the new rules, civil servants must hit the average of being in the office for 40 per cent of the time over the course of a month, still allowing them to spend some weeks working entirely from home.
The figure is lower than the equivalent Whitehall policy, which states that civil servants must spend at least 60 per cent of their time working at the office.
Officials responded to the change using the Scottish Government's Saltire intranet service. One asked: 'Given that one of the reasons provided for discontinuing the provision of the swimming pool at VQ was the low number of staff in the office to use it, can I ask if this decision will now be revisited?'
Another said: 'Close a swimming pool to save the environment and reduce emissions, while mandating thousands to travel another day a week seems a bit strange.'
A third civil servant wrote: 'Many have made big decisions based on balance – whether that be starting a family, getting a pet, getting rid of cars; down to things like starting a new fitness class, being able to take that longer lunchtime walk for their mental health or meet a friend after work because there is no commute.
'The prospect of that now being taken away is undoubtedly causing stress and anxiety.'
Kenny Gibson, the convener of Holyrood's finance and public administration committee, asked the Scottish Government's most senior civil servant about the change on Tuesday.
Mr Gibson told Joe Griffin, who was appointed permanent secretary in March: 'There appears to be considerable resistance from some civil servants to what the public would perceive as a fairly modest proposal that they come into the office at least two days a week, with incredulity from many that they don't do that already.
'After all, public service workers, from refuge collectors to teachers to nurses, all have to be at work.'
Mr Griffin said he had decided to increase the number of days officials must be in the office 'quite early on in my tenure' as there was evidence 'people working together in person are more likely to engage in high value activities.'
Referring to the complaints, he said: 'Some people have reacted to that decision. I understand some of the anxieties that people have. We absolutely need to make sure that we are taking account of diversity and inclusion requirements, and how we do that, but the direction of travel is clear for the reasons that I've given.'
He said he wanted to 'demonstrate the benefits' of getting staff into the office two days a week before 'going further in due course.'