Fewer than one in seven Department for Work and Pensions civil servants are arriving at the office by midday, the Daily Mail can reveal. Just 317 of 2,245 of the staff paid to get Britons back into work were at the department's headquarters by noon on a recent Friday – leaving more than three-quarters of the building's 1,395 spaces empty. Researchers from think-tank the Centre for Government Reform (CGR) stood outside Caxton House, the DWP's central London office, to count the number of staff entering.
They spotted just 26 employees arriving between 7am and 8am and 114 arriving by 9am – representing 5 per cent of Caxton House's total headcount. The total rose to 220 by 10am and 278 by 11am, reaching 317 by midday – 14 per cent of the office's workforce. It comes amid rising criticism of bureaucrats for flouting rules requiring them to come into the office 60 per cent of the working week. Just 317 of 2,245 of the staff paid to get Britons back into work were at the department's headquarters by noon on a recent Friday The Department for Business and Trade, for example, has claimed it has an occupancy rate of 80 per cent.
But its London offices only have space for 1,058 of its allocated 3,699 staff, suggesting a true occupancy rate of just more than 20 per cent. In order for the DWP to meet its target, 1,350 staff would need to be at their desks on an average day. Commenting on the findings, the Tories' Cabinet Office spokesman Mike Wood said: 'It's little wonder Britain has a benefits bill spiralling out of control when the department responsible for tackling it can't even get its own staff to turn up for work.'
CGR chief executive Ameer Kotecha said: 'This epitomises a system where rules are set but not enforced, and where nobody seems to be measuring if the public is getting value from the estate it funds.' A DWP spokesman said: 'This is a flimsy basis for sweeping claims about an entire department. We publish data on in-office attendance, and ours shows that we are meeting published targets.'
The Daily Mail's headline turns a think-tank's count outside one DWP building on one Friday into a general fact about the whole department, with no source, day or building named. The body then says staff 'are arriving' at that rate, presenting a single morning's count as an ongoing pattern.
Headline goes beyond the article
Serious
“Just one in seven staff at the Department for Work turn up by midday”
Why this matters
The headline states "one in seven staff ... turn up by midday" as the Mail's own general fact about the department. It names no source, no day and no building.
The impression it gives
A reader believes that on a normal working day only about one in seven DWP staff come to work by noon.
The context
The body reports a count by a think-tank's researchers standing outside one office, Caxton House, on a single Friday. The DWP calls it a flimsy basis and says its own published data show it meets its targets.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“Researchers from think-tank the Centre for Government Reform (CGR) stood outside Caxton House”
Elsewhere in the article“by noon on a recent Friday”
Elsewhere in the article“This is a flimsy basis for sweeping claims about an entire department”
Think-tank count finds 317 staff entered DWP's London headquarters by noon on one Friday; the department says its published data show it meets attendance targets.
Uses figures that mislead
Minor
“civil servants are arriving at the office by midday, the Daily Mail can reveal”
Why this matters
The words "are arriving" turn one morning's count into an ongoing rate for DWP civil servants in general.
The impression it gives
A reader believes this is the department's regular attendance pattern.
The context
The figure comes from one Friday at one building. The article reports no count from any other day or office.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“by noon on a recent Friday”
Elsewhere in the article“stood outside Caxton House, the DWP's central London office”
The Mail measures arrivals against the full headcount of 2,245.
The impression it gives
A reader believes the right comparison is with every member of staff, so attendance looks close to collapse.
The context
The building has only 1,395 spaces, and the rule requires office attendance for 60 per cent of the week, not every day. The article itself puts the daily target at 1,350.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“1,350 staff would need to be at their desks on an average day”
Elsewhere in the article“60 per cent of the working week”