Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of backtracking on efforts to force civil servants to work in the office for at least three days a week.
It comes as Labour fails to back the previous government’s plan to curtail rampant working from home across Whitehall.
The Telegraph has learnt that ministers are still yet to tell civil servants whether rules that limit home working to two days a week will be kept. It has prompted fears among senior Conservatives that it means home working will become the “norm” again under the new Government.
John Glen, the shadow paymaster general, said: “Taxpayers deserve the very best from the civil service, yet under Labour, it looks like working from home is the new norm.
“We made strides in getting civil servants back to work after the pandemic and prioritising defence spending over ever-growing Whitehall numbers. Labour has made a very different choice, putting civil servants’ demands over value for money and public sector efficiency.”
Targets across government departments currently require civil servants to attend the office for at least 60pc of their contracted hours, allowing about two days a week to be spent at home. The guidance has been earmarked for a decision on whether or not to scrap or alter it, although the Government is yet to take a view.
Signs that the rules could be slipping have begun to emerge since Labour won a landslide victory in the general election earlier this month. An official website monitoring weekly office attendance of civil servants across government department headquarters appears to have stopped updating after July 4.
Civil Service job adverts posted in recent days also seem to be out of step with the target. An opening for a customer service adviser in the Department for Work and Pensions states the new employee will be permitted to work in the office just two days a week shortly after starting.
The Prime Minister is currently poised to hand public sector workers, including teachers and NHS workers, pay rises of 5.5pc, well above inflation which is running at 2pc.
Civil servants have faced intense criticism for continuing to work from home since the pandemic four years ago. A Whitehall efficiency drive under the Conservatives included ministers mandating in-office attendance for most of the week for thousands of civil servants.
However, the rules were met with resistance from parts of the civil service as office attendance remained stubbornly low in some departments, according to official figures.
On the week commencing May 20, the last week that figures were published online, HMRC’s headquarters had the lowest office occupancy rates at 60pc.
This newspaper revealed in September that thousands of HMRC staff were not going into the office at all, with just 56pc of staff in the Belfast tax office attending at least once a week at the time.
A government spokesman said: “The government’s entire focus is on the work of delivering change. We will support the civil service with the necessary tools to ensure it can deliver that for working people.”
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