Details

The Civil Service published weekly data on HQ Office Occupancy from Whitehall departments’ as a proxy measure of ‘return to offices’ following the pandemic. This was suspended in line with pre-election guidance for the duration of the Election Period. Going forward this data will now be published quarterly, resuming October 2024.

Contacts

Press enquiries: pressoffice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Methodology

The data was originally gathered for internal purposes to indicate the progress being made by departments in returning to the workplace in greater numbers. Data was collected in respect of Departmental HQ buildings to gain a general understanding of each department’s position without requiring departments to introduce data collection methods across their whole estate which would be expensive and resource intensive.

These figures are representative of employees whose home location is their departmental HQ building. These figures do not include contractors and visitors. Departments providing data are listed below.

All data presented is sourced and collected by departments and provided to the Cabinet Office. The data presented are not Official Statistics.

There are four main methods used to collect the Daily Average Number of Employees in the HQ building:

• wifi and/or computer log-ins associated with location
• swipe pass entry data
• space or desk booking system
• manual count

It is for departments to determine the most appropriate method of collection. This data does not capture employees working in other locations such as other government buildings, other workplaces or working from home.

Notes on measure of attendance in the workplace

The data provided is for Departmental HQ buildings only and inferences about the wider workforce cannot be made.

Comparisons between departments

The data should not be used to make comparisons between departments. The factors determining the numbers of employees working in the workplace will differ across departments, this is due to, the variation in operating models and the broad range of public services they deliver. The different data collection methods used by departments will also make comparisons between departments invalid.

Calculations

Percentage of employees working in the HQ building compared to building capacity is calculated by: Monthly total number of employees in the HQ building divided by the monthly capacity of the HQ building.

Definitions

In the majority of cases the HQ building is defined as where the Secretary of State for that department is based.

Current Daily Capacity is the total number of people that can be accommodated in the building.

Departments providing data

• Cabinet Office
• Department for Business and Trade
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Department for Education
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
• Department for Transport
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
• HM Revenue and Customs
• HM Treasury
• Home Office
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Ministry of Justice
• Northern Ireland Office
• Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
• Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

The government announced on Wednesday 19 January 2022 that it was no longer asking people to work from home, with all other Plan B measures in England being lifted by 27 January. Civil servants who had been following government guidance and working from home could then start returning to their workplaces.

This data presents the daily average number of staff working in departmental HQ buildings, for each week (Monday to Friday) beginning the week commencing of 7 February 2022.

Contacts

Press enquiries: pressoffice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Methodology

The data was originally gathered for internal purposes to indicate the progress being made by departments in returning to the workplace in greater numbers. Data was collected from Departmental HQ buildings to gain a general understanding of each department’s position without requiring departments to introduce data collection methods across their whole estate which would be expensive and resource intensive.

These figures incorporate all employees for the departments providing data for this report whose home location is their Departmental HQ building. The figures do not include contractors and visitors.

A listing of all Civil Service organisations providing data is provided.

Data on percentage of employees working in the HQ buildings are provided by departments

All data presented are sourced and collected by departments and provided to the Cabinet Office. The data presented are not Official Statistics.

There are 4 main methods used to collect the Daily Average Number of Employees in the HQ building:

• wifi and/or computer log-ins associated with location
• swipe pass entry data
• space or desk booking system
• manual count

This data does not capture employees working in other locations such as other government buildings, other workplaces or working from home.

It is for departments to determine the most appropriate method of collection.

Notes on measure of attendance in the workplace

The data provided is for Departmental HQ buildings only and inferences about the wider workforce cannot be made.

Work is underway to develop a common methodology for efficiently monitoring occupancy that provides a daily and historic trend record of office occupancy levels for a building.

Comparisons between departments

The data shouldn’t be used to compare departments. The factors determining the numbers of employees working in the workplace, such as the differing operating models and the service they deliver, will vary across departments. The different data collection methods used by departments will also make comparisons between departments invalid.

Calculations

Percentage of employees working in the HQ building compared to building capacity is calculated as follows:

Where daily average number of employees in the HQ building equals:

Collection periods

The data is collected weekly. Unless otherwise stated, all the data reported is for the time period Monday to Friday.

Definitions

In the majority of cases the HQ building is defined as where the Secretary of State for that department is based.

Current Daily Capacity is the total number of people that can be accommodated in the building.

Departments providi