Transparency row over data on civil servants working from home

Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin told Holyrood’s finance and public administration committee on Tuesday that the decision not to penalise civil servants who fail to meet the 40% office working request was the result of “compromises” to avoid “conflict” with trade unions.

However, Mr Griffin, who is head of the civil service in Scotland, said there had been improvements since the hybrid working policy came into effect in October last year.

He said occupancy levels at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh increased to 60% in February this year, up from 34% a year earlier.

Mr Griffin also said Atlantic Quay in Glasgow had increased from 57% to 68% over the same period.

The Scottish Government would not confirm which cohort of staff these figures related to and said the data will not be made publicly available until May.

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Statistics published in January this year showed the occupancy rate for St Andrew’s House was 22.6%.

Since the policy came into effect, capacity at St Andrew’s House did not exceed 30% for core staff members.

The Herald asked to view the figures, alongside data for other government buildings, to determine whether they related specifically to core civil servants who are subjected to hybrid working policy, or all public sector workers who use the offices.

Atlantic Quay was 32.5% full in January, according to official statistics and did not 48% since October.

Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin, head of the civil service, defends the decision not to punish civil servants who don't work from the office 👇 pic.twitter.com/GIWW13vl2t

— The Herald (@heraldscotland) March 10, 2026

When figures for all authorised staff are factored in, occupancy at St Andrew’s House in January was 83.3%, and 75.8% for Atlantic Quay.

Craig Hoy, the finance spokesman for the Scottish Tories, and member of the finance committee, said: “This stinks of classic SNP secrecy.

“They are desperate to keep the public in the dark about how many civil servants are turning up to the office because we know the unions got their wish for attendance not to be routinely monitored.

“Hard-pressed Scots are sick of it looking like there is one rule for the SNP’s civil servants and another for everyone else when it comes to working arrangements.

“SNP ministers must confirm which figures are accurate as soon as possible rather than kicking the issue into the long grass until after May’s election.”

Mr Hoy said it was “little wonder” the Permanent Secretary did not know how many core civil servants were working from the office.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the next publication of building occupancy data will not be published until May, despite some of the figures being put into the public record by the Permanent Secretary.

The spokesman did not comment further when asked by The Herald.

Speaking to the Holyrood committee this week, the Permanent Secretary suggested he was open to tightening the office working requirements if “shortcomings” in the policy continued to be unaddressed.

Read more:

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He rejected the claim he was “scared” to discipline civil servants in fear of action from public sector trade unions.

Mr Griffin said that while some buildings were still significantly unoccupied, there had been “palpable change” in the atmosphere and vibrancy concerning hybrid working.

Referencing the policy, he said: “This is not in its origin a punitive approach. This is not something that speaks of distrust of people working hard. We think this is a positive thing and we want to encourage people to be present with their colleagues.”

He came under criticism from committee convener Kenny Gibson, an SNP MSP, over the Scottish Government’s decision to record building occupancy rather than the number of staff working from offices.

The Herald revealed last year that three unions – the FDA, Prospect and the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union - accused the Scottish Government of “breaching” a partnership agreement amid “arbitrary” hybrid working policies.

Last month, Allan Sampson, of the FDA union, defended civil servants, stating: “Counting heads at desks tells us little about the dedication and effectiveness of Scotland’s civil servants.”