Tuesday 15 May 2012

Will anyone notice the difference?

When Sir Bob Kerslake took over as head of the home civil service from Sir-Gus-now-Lord O'Donnell, "oh no not another over-promoted council leader" was one of the few printable comments.

His detractors may soon revise their opinion. He has just executed stage 1 of a simple two-stage plan. Let today's Times tell the story:
Whitehall gets seven weeks at home for Olympics
Civil servants have been told they can work from home for seven weeks during the Olympics, prompting incredulity from ministers, MPs and business leaders.

Tens of thousands of civil servants based in Central London will be allowed to work from home from July 21 – six days before the opening ceremony. Flexible working arrangements will remain for the 15 days between the Olympic Games and the Paralympics, ending on September 9 after the second closing ceremony.

Business groups expressed deep dismay at the plans. A spokesman for the Business Services Association, which represents Britain’s biggest outsourcing companies, said: “Seven weeks is a long time to have the heart of government working intermittently ...
There is no need for "business groups" or anyone else to experience either "incredulity" or "dismay". Stage 2 requires nothing more from Sir Bob than on 8 September to tweet all his ex-civil servants the simple message "don't bother to come back" and ... voilà – a gold medal for Sir Bob.

UPDATE 18 May 2012Revealed: Civil servants get extra three days holiday if they work over 36 hours a week

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