DWP is delivering more than 2,500 pieces of IT equipment a week to ensure that all its staff are able to work from home

Work and Pensions Minister says that more than 74,000 are already able to work remotely representing more than 80 per cent of the Department's workforce

The DWP is delivering more than 2,500 pieces of IT equipment a week to ensure that all its staff are able to work from home by the end of March 2021

Earlier this week, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union had said that the Department has been 'far too slow' to provide its staff with the kit needed to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, and that there has been a sharp increase in infections amongst DWP workers, with workplaces frequently having to close fully or partially as a result of Covid-19.

However, responding to a series of Parliamentary written questions yesterday, Work and Pensions Minister Guy Opperman said -

'Since March 2020 the Department has increased the number of colleagues with IT which enables them to work more flexibly, including from home, by over 50,000. This means almost 74,000 people in total now have kit to enable them to work this way, which is approximately 81 per cent of our workforce.

The Department continues the roll-out of IT kit as quickly as it can, delivering over 2,500 pieces of IT equipment a week to ensure that everyone in DWP is enabled to work flexibly by the end of March.'

Mr Opperman added that some job roles can only be done in the office or individuals’ personal circumstances mean they do not wish to work from home, in which case staff will continue to use their existing desk-based IT, and that -

'Currently, around 31,000 DWP employees are consistently working from an office, with approximately a further 5,000 working from a combination of home and a DWP office location.'

The Minister's written answers to questions UIN 138979, UIN 138980 and UIN 138981 are available from Hansard.