Update for Home Office Merseyside Branch members on return to work

Members will be aware from the government briefings and internal communications from Home Office managers that the government are gradually lifting the lockdown with many more businesses starting to reopen or planning their re-openings. As public servants and government employees it will come as no surprise that a return to work for some PCS members will be expected to form part of this.

The Cabinet Office have been in discussions with PCS since 23 April about a return to work in general and since then the Home Office has been developing plans for what form this will take within the department. They have stated they do not intend to reverse homeworking. However, when pressed, they stopped short of committing to ensuring that anyone currently working from home would not be forced back into the workplace, stating that this was a delegated matter for employers at departmental level. The Cabinet Office position also remains that Civil Service staff can be brought back into workplaces even though they would be carrying out non-essential work.

Visas & Citizenship Liverpool

PCS have been in weekly discussions with the Director General of UKVI and with the Director of V&C in Liverpool, the largest unit for staff within PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch, who have signalled that due to the volume of paper-based applications that cannot be completed at home, they will be the first to bring a greater number of staff back into offices.

Within UKVI there has been a commitment given to PCS from the Director General that:

• Those who can do their work from home will continue to do so;
• There will be no sudden or immediate movement of staff now based at home returning to their usual workplace, and;
• Any returns will be incremental and ensuring social distancing measures are maintained and travel arrangements are considered.

PCS continues to oppose any return to workplaces during the lockdown for non-essential work, and continues to press for more members to work from home. Our position is clear that whilst the lockdown continues anyone working/staying at home must remain there.

However the department take the view that some of the workstreams that have been scaled back, or paused completely, during the lockdown are essential and cannot be completed at home.

What this means is that potentially 25% of staff (circa 500) within V&C in Liverpool will gradually be returned to one of the 4 sites (The Capital Building, Redgrave Court, 101 Old Hall Street, Shannon Court) starting this week. We have asked for daily numbers of staff on site and that measures are reviewed and staff consulted before each incremental increase.

Health & Safety Risk Assessments

PCS have been involved with completing health and safety risk assessments with the departments and ensuring social distancing measures are put in place before any staff are brought back. PCS have been clear that our members must be able to observe social distancing at all times including in communal areas, toilets and lifts. Members should inform your branch PCS Health and Safety representatives of any breaches observed so that these can be raised with the department where appropriate. At present the department has indicated that further work is needed before Shannon Court can be brought into use.

This means some PCS members will not be returning initially to their normal place of work. We have received assurances that these moves are temporary and are necessary to spread staff as wide as possible to reduce the strain and additional risk to staff in a single workplace. The department can help cover the costs of additional travel but if members have particular concerns about how this may impact them they should discuss these with their managers. However, we do not expect it likely that the department will make significant changes to the proposed locations of staff as different workstreams will operate from each site.

Currently shielding?

Members currently shielding will continue to do so in line with current guidance and there is no expectation of a change to this position.

Uncertainty

For members both homeworking or being called back into the office there is still a huge degree of uncertainty around the issue of schools reopening, particularly in the North West of England, and even if planned re-openings do happen they will be severely limited and will have little impact for many of our members. As such, issues related to childcare will continue to be dealt with via line managers on a case by case basis.

At this stage, other units within the Home Office in Merseyside are further behind in their planning but the PCS branch officers expect to have further talks in the coming days with the relevant Directors regarding their restart plans. It is expected that other business areas are only considering small increases from current levels with the majority of staff continuing to work from home as widely as possible.

We will issue a further update when we know more details.