I love this story.
Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, ordered an end to working from home last month after pressure from the efficiency minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
According to Schools Week, the DfE has [only] 4,200 desks for 8,000 full-time staff in its 12 offices across England, including just 95 desks for nearly 300 staff in Bristol, and 24 desks for 110 staff in Leeds. It reported that some staff at the DfE’s office in Sheffield had been sent home because of overcrowding, as nearly 1,500 staff tried to use the 790 desks.
As with many government departments, working from home was widely practised at the DfE before the pandemic. About 60-70% of DfE staff typically worked from home or had flexible working patterns on a daily basis, and in recent years the DfE’s office space has shrunk to reflect that.
www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/20/department-for-education-desk-shortage-staff-working-chaotic-conditions
Lack of public toilets in towns.