In April, it emerged he was carrying out “spot checks” on offices to monitor occupancy rates. Senior mandarins were ordered to publish figures on how full their offices were in a bid to name and shame the worst performing departments. Occupancy data showed that the crackdown brought more staff to the office in most departments. But it appeared to be collapsing in some parts of Whitehall, with just half the offices at the Home Office headquarters in Westminster occupied at the end of June. Commenting on the impending property sales, Mr Rees-Mogg told The Telegraph: “We have seen over the last year that expensive office space in central London has been under-utilised. Why should the taxpayer be forced to fork over half-empty buildings? “But moving public servants to our beautiful counties and cities through the Places for Growth program will benefit everyone, giving public servants a better quality of life and helping economic growth outside the capital. “We are reducing the cost of public property so we can return money to the taxpayer. All expenditures on state property must be justified.” Moving Civil Service jobs out of London “would enable greater savings and mean the government is closer to the communities it serves”, he said. The property strategy also includes a commitment to invest £300 million in funding to release smaller sites in the open environment across England for housing.
