The Brexit opportunity and government efficiency minister will publish a strategy next week that includes selling off assets over the next three years, with staff working in fewer buildings as part of a new network of government “hubs”, the Telegraph reported. The proposal is part of a government property strategy which aims to save £2bn from property sales and efficiency, and also includes the use of modern building materials and energy sources. Rees-Mogg, who has orchestrated a long-running campaign to encourage civil servants to stop working from home after the coronavirus restrictions were lifted, told the Sunday Telegraph: “We have seen over the last year that expensive office space in central London have been underutilized. . 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.” The Conservative MP for North East Somerset added that moving public sector jobs out of London “would enable greater savings and mean the government is closer to the communities it serves”. In April, it was revealed that Rees-Mogg had written to cabinet ministers urging them to force staff into a “swift return to the office” and left notes in empty Whitehall workplaces with the message: “Looking forward to seeing you at office very soon.” Labor MPs branded the move at the time “patronising” and “passive-aggressive”. It also emerged that Rees-Mogg was carrying out “spot checks” on offices to monitor occupancy rates with senior bosses demanding they publish figures on the proportion of government staff working from the office. The minister also condemned the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after staff told the regulator’s bosses that two days a week in the office was the maximum they could deal with. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “The FCA has an important job and any reasonable person would recognize that spending only two days a week in the office will hurt performance,” he told the Telegraph. “We know that people work better when they are together.”
