Civil servants have been spending more than £10,000 a month on away days since Labour came to power including using “escape rooms” to learn about cybersecurity.
According to an analysis of government expenses by The i Paper, more than £33,000 was spent on mandarins travelling to 77 away-days across the country that took place in the first three months of the new Labour government.
The amount of taxpayer money spent on away days, which are often used as team-building exercises, will prove controversial amid the spate of cost-cutting across Whitehall, which has seen cuts to benefits, education and overseas aid. Ministers have also announced plans to cut about 10,000 civil service roles as part of a wider efficiency drive.
In Opposition, Labour were highly critical of away days accusing the then Conservative government of ” wasting taxpayers’ cash on absurd days out”
Some Cabinet Ministers including Yvette Cooper have pledged to cut down on Whitehall waste, with the Home Secretary setting up her own “Doge Unit” in her department, modelled after Donald Trump’s cost cutting initiative.
Cooper’s unit is reportedly planning to ban away days, where civil servants meet for a day of bonding and policy planning outside of typical office settings.
Little detail is disclosed on what happens on these days out of the office, but a blog on the Department for Education website by a civil servant described how on one away day he took part in the “Cyber Security Awareness team’s escape room”.
He posted: “As part of the Vulnerable Children and Families portfolio away day, I took part in the Cyber Security Awareness team’s escape room. This was a chance to look at cybersecurity in a different and more interactive way.
He added: “While I can’t pretend the escape room has made me a cyber specialist, it has sparked my interest.”
One senior Home Office civil servant attended four different away days in two months at a cost of £1,817 in travel and accommodation.
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Meanwhile, another senior civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions incurred costs of over £1,000 on travel and accommodation for a two day away day in September.
The official records disclose that the 77 away days were run in 19 different cities across nine Government departments. Although civil servants claimed £33,000 in travel and accommodation expenses, the true cost is likely to be significantly higher once any venue hire or training costs are taken into account.
In addition the away days recorded are only the ones attended by senior civil servants and not those for lower-ranking officials.
The disclosures comes amid increased scrutiny over the spiralling costs of the civil service after The i Paper revealed a civil servant was caught working three different jobs at once with the working for home culture to blame. The civil servant, who held security clearances, is currently awaiting trial over alleged fraud.
In 2022, The i Paper reported that away days by civil servants in the Department of Transport including lessons in how to juggle and a session including building a “mini-mexican railway”.
Joe Robertson, Tory MP and member of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, said “While team-building has its merits, and a place in a modern organisation, a total of 77 away days in 3 months for senior civil servants is excessive.
“Civil servants are there to support the government in running the country, and disappearing off to ‘escape rooms’ every so often isn’t helpful. The government should stop this happening.
“Taxpayers expect better judgment from those trusted with public funds, particularly when the government is already balancing the books on some of the most needy.”
Amanda Arrowsmith from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said away days can be a valuable way to team build and develop policy across large organisations.
She said: “Bringing teams together, for events like away days, adds value to organisations by helping build cohesion and trust, improving communication, providing professional development and clarifying who does what within a team. Taking teams away from their day-to-day tasks can enable them to think creatively about problems and how to reach business goals.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to tackling wasteful spending head-on, so that taxpayer money is only spent on delivering for the public.
“This includes freezing 20,000 Government credit cards and cutting departmental administration costs by 15% over the next five years, delivering savings of over £2 billion a year by 2030.”
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