Civil servants allowed to ‘work from the beach' despite plummeting productivity
Whitehall bosses granted almost 2,500 requests for overseas working last year amid growing concern over plummeting public sector productivity.
The Business Department allowed almost 500 staff to clock in from abroad, whilst Angela Rayner 's local communities department green-lighted 437 personnel.
The figures can only be revealed after The Telegraph sent freedom of information requests to all 20 government departments, of which 13 provided answers.
It sheds light for the first time on the scale of Whitehall staff working from abroad at a time when the Civil Service's performance is under the spotlight.
The findings show that ministries received 2,641 requests from mandarins to work abroad last year of which 2,348 were approved – a grant rate of 89 per cent.
European holiday hotspots including Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France were the most popular destinations for remote working officials.
But civil servants were also allowed to clock in from more exotic locations around the globe including Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius, and Thailand.
The Business Department, which has around 6,000 employees, was the most generous ministry of all, granting 459 overseas working requests.
Staff at the ministry, which also covers international trade, were allowed to clock in from Argentina, Australia and Brazil amongst other locations.
Next was Ms Rayner's Housing Department on 437 followed by the Department of Health, run by Wes Streeting, which allowed 385 staff to work overseas.
In all departments, requests were green-lighted to work across 101 countries – almost half the nations on the planet – ranging from New Zealand to Colombia.
Government departments can typically allow staff to work from abroad for up to a month at a time, but only do so under certain circumstances.
Some of the approvals issued by the Business Department concerned 'blended travel' where officials added some personal days onto official trips.
Ms Rayner's department said it only allowed staff to work abroad 'for a very limited time' and for 'urgent welfare reasons' such as a family illness.
Other departments, such as the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence, allow overseas working for the civil servant partners of officials who are posted abroad.
The figures will add to growing pressure on the Government to clamp down on remote working amid fears it is hampering the Civil Service's efficiency.
The Telegraph revealed last December how Whitehall has reverted to working from home under Labour, with attendance at 13 departments falling.
Flexible working has remained ingrained across Government departments at the same time as many private businesses are ordering their staff back into the office five days a week.
This is despite ministers having publicly and privately expressed growing frustration with the slowness of the Civil Service in implementing their plans.
Sir Keir Starmer took aim at Whitehall lethargy in December, accusing too many mandarins of being 'comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline '.
Figures published last week show how public sector productivity is still lagging well behind pre-pandemic levels despite the private sector fully recovering.
The Office for National Statistics found public sector output is still 8.4 per cent lower than before the pandemic despite the number of civil servants growing by 100,000 in that time.
The Institute for Directors has warned the weakness of the public sector is 'dragging down the economy as a whole and must be urgently addressed'.
A Government spokesman said: 'These requests include those made for official travel or taking work mobile phones abroad whilst on leave for business continuity.
'We expect most civil servants to spend the majority of time working from the office – and departments must comply with strict regulations when making decisions to allow individual staff members to work abroad, with cases only approved in exceptional circumstances, such as a close family bereavement.'
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