Only half of DfE civil servants were in their posts as a particular crisis hit schools

There are growing concerns about unsafe concrete in school buildings. Photo: James Manning/PA

Only half of civil servants in the Department New data showed that the Department of Education was sitting at their desks as a particular school crisis unfolded.

Official statistics showed that 49 percent of officials worked from home when it became known that hundreds of classes would have to be closed.

Rishi Sunak's spokesman distanced the prime minister from the absence, saying he «firmly believes in the importance of office work.»

On Thursday, the Government published data on working from home which showed that on average 51 per cent of staff were in a DfE office last week. Attendance will be impacted by Monday's holiday, but seven other departments had more officials at work.

Statistics also show almost half of Mandarins were working from home a week ago, despite growing concerns about unsafe concrete in schools .

Education Minister Gillian Keegan, who spent August 25-31 on holiday with her family in Spain, was also absent. She returned last Thursday, the same day her department ordered more than 100 schools to close.

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When asked about low DfE attendance, a spokesman for Mr Sunak said office work «is vital… to helping taxpayers deliver high-quality services,» adding: «We track this information and make it transparent as part of our work.» to increase occupancy, with the caveat that flexible working is an important part of any modern life.

“The DfE have teams working around the clock on this to reassure parents, get data and contact schools that have not yet responded to their surveys, and they are working very hard on this. But clearly we know more needs to be done to encourage people to return to office.»

The revelations will infuriate Tory MPs, who have been frustrated that repeated attempts to bring more mandarins back to office have failed failure.< /p>

Jeremy Queen, the treasurer general, is working on plans to crack down on the work-from-home culture in the civil service. He has previously expressed concern that the trend is leading to lower productivity in Whitehall and poorer outcomes for taxpayers.

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Cabinet Office minister, said: “It is not surprising that the Education Secretary was this way. about others sitting back and doing all the work themselves when half the civil servants are absent.»

The DfE has been contacted for comment.