Is this any way to run the economy? Would-be Chancellor Ed Miliband's staff are allowed to work from home most days and only have to go into the office for 40 per cent of the month

By MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR Published: 22:00, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 22:09, 28 June 2026 Ed Miliband's staff are allowed to spend most of their days working from home. Civil servants working for the Energy Secretary - who many fear could become Chancellor under Andy Burnham - can go into the office for as little as 40 per cent of the time. They enjoy less stringent rules than most other Whitehall officials, who are meant to be at their desks 60 per cent of each month. Even job adverts for senior roles in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), paying up to £80,000 a year, state that 'benefits' include: 'A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60 per cent of their time in the office (minimum of 40 per cent) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.' Staff at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) also benefit from the same generous arrangement. Shadow Home Office minister Mike Wood told the Daily Mail: 'Under Labour, civil servants working on matters as important as cyber security are getting the green light to work from home more than half the time. 'We all know 'work from home' often means 'work from anywhere' – so how many of these staff are going to be joining their Teams calls from the bar or the beach? Energy Secretary Ed Miliband walks through Whitehall on his way to a meeting earlier this year: yet staff in his department only have to come into the office for 40 per cent of the month 'Falling civil service productivity under Labour affects us all – from tax phone line queues to poorer public services. It's clear Labour's pledge of civil servants being in the office 60 per cent of the time isn't worth the paper it's written on.' DESNZ says it has a lower attendance requirement than other departments because it does not have enough space for its whole workforce to turn up most days. In late 2024 there were only 571 desks in the department's two Whitehall headquarters, even though 2,969 civil servants are meant to be based there. Yet Government figures show DESNZ often records 100 per cent occupancy, far more than other ministries. Critics say the number is misleading as it implies the entire workforce is present rather than just one in five staff. Former diplomat Ameer Kotecha, now chief executive of the Centre for Government Reform, said: 'These figures are an illustration of the civil service's relationship with accountability: the appearance of compliance, with none of the substance. 'Claiming 100 per cent office occupancy when there are only enough desks for half the workforce isn't a rounding error, it's seriously misleading.' He went on: 'This is the problem I witnessed during my eleven years in Whitehall. All too often, the instinct when faced with a target is not to do everything possible to meet it but to redefine it. 'There remains a serious problem across the civil service with excessive work from home, and we need to treat these headline figures from Whitehall with the same scepticism we'd apply to a suspect set of company accounts.' DESNZ insisted the figure is not misleading as it is based on building occupancy rather than staff attendance. A Government spokesman said: 'DESNZ and DSIT operate a 40-60 per cent minimum requirement to work from the office, based on estate capacity. 'DESNZ has one of the highest office occupancy rates, averaging 96 per cent between January and March this year, with DSIT averaging 79 per cent over the same period.' Mr Miliband received more backing for his bid to become Chancellor on Sunday - this time from Labour's Deputy Leader, who is close to likely next PM Mr Burnham. Asked if she thought the prominent left-winger would be good at running the Treasury, Lucy Powell told the BBC: 'Yes I do actually, but actually I think this is a slightly distracting conversation, because I think we've all got a really important job to do.' However it was reported that he could be beaten by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, who is seen as less left-wing and so could reassure the markets. A Labour source told The Sun on Sunday: 'Pat is in the running. It will be between him and Ed.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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