Civil servants claim they work less well when they are forced into the office three days a week, according to a new report.

The survey by the trade union for Whitehall mandarins found that three-quarters of respondents believe the mandatory attendance requirement has been a failure.

And four in ten told the FDA that the back-to-the-office drive ‘has decreased their productivity’ with only one in ten believing it had improved matters.

Many complain that they end up on virtual meetings even when they are at their desks, while others say they cannot sit with their team members because office space has been shrunk.

However they admit that turning up to work is good for networking and belonging, with almost half (45 per cent) keen for bosses to organise team-building events and social gatherings.

The FDA is now calling for a ‘comprehensive review’ of the 60 per cent office attendance mandate, which was imposed by the Conservatives after Covid but retained by Labour last year.

It also wants ministers to carry out an Equality Impact Assessment of the edict amid fears that it disproportionately affects disabled civil servants.

FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said: ‘This report demonstrates that civil servants do not oppose office work – they oppose top-down blanket mandates applied to over 500,000 staff in 200 different organisations that only deliver a culture of presenteeism.

A street sign pointing to Whitehall and Parliament Street in SW1, London. Four in ten civil servants told the FDA that working in the office three times a week had decreased their productivity

The FDA is now calling for a ‘comprehensive review’ of the 60 per cent office attendance mandate, which was imposed by the Conservatives but retained by Labour (file photo)

The FDA said that civil servants want working arrangements which focus on what they do rather than where they do it (file photo)

But 45 per cent of civil servants said they thought that office working is good for networking and belonging (file photo)

‘Civil servants want effective hybrid working arrangements where the focus is on what they do, not where they do it.’

Our survey of over 7,000 civil servants should be a starting point for a meaningful, evidence-based dialogue which looks to the future of the civil service, instead of clinging to the past.’

But ministers are not expected to drop the order, particularly after Sir Keir Starmer claimed that ‘too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline’.

A government spokesman said: ‘Our entire focus is on delivering our Plan for Change and supporting civil servants with the necessary tools and space they need to deliver on working people’s priorities.’

To get the full benefit of collaborative face-to-face working, most civil servants are expected to spend at least 60 per cent of their working time at a government building or on official business.’

Latest figures show that most of the main Government headquarters were at least two-thirds full during November, with Ed Miliband’s net zero department recording 97 per cent occupancy, although rates fell in December as staff took time off for Christmas.