Former Conservative MP Jane Stevenson has claimed the Civil Service has "serious questions" to answer after letting its staff work remotely from beaches abroad.
In new shock data collated by the Taxpayers' Alliance, thousands of public sector workers have been granted permission to work from abroad over the past five years, according to freedom of information releases.
More than 2,000 such permissions were granted by various quangos during this period. Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said taxpayers are growing "ever more curious about what on earth the vast network of quangos are actually doing".
She added: "Ministers have handed significant control of services and policy to unelected bodies frequently not based in London, limiting further their ability to hold them to account."
Ex-Tory MP Jane Stevenson hit out at civil servants being permitted to work abroad
Getty / GB News
Discussing the shocking data on GB News, ex-Tory MP Jane Stevenson said the thought of civil servants "sipping pina coladas" doesn't instil "much confidence" in their services.
Stevenson said: "I think as taxpayers, we've got every right to expect civil servants to be doing their job well, to be productive, snd I think that's the key, productivity.
"We know since the pandemic, productivity has dropped, and so I think there are really serious questions that need to be answered."
Admitting some may be permitted to work abroad due to "exceptional circumstances", Stevenson stressed that it must be a "rarity" rather than common practice.
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More than 2,000 such permissions were granted by various quangos during this period, according to new data
Getty
She explained: " Obviously, some people might have exceptional circumstances, they might have an ill family member abroad or something for a temporary working from somewhere abroad.
"But that needs to be a real rarity, and I'm not surprised people are quite angry."
Highlighting the impact of absent civil servants on Britain's economy, Stevenson revealed that half of the civic centre in Wolverhampton is "empty", and the authorities are attempting to "rent it out".
Stevenson stated: "I think there are wider questions about our civic centres - for instance, in Wolverhampton, ours is half empty. Most of the time they're looking to let bits of it, and our city centre economy is suffering from no lunchtime trade.
Stevenson told GB News that the thought of civil servants 'sipping pina coladas' doesn't instil 'much confidence'
GB News
"Young people aren't getting mentoring, all of the work from home questions need to be addressed. But I think certainly the thought of civil servants sipping pina coladas and being less efficient is not going to sort of make us feel confident in our taxes being spent wisely."
Concluding her argument, Stevenson told GB News that if working abroad "becomes the norm", there are a "whole load of other questions" that need to be answered.
She said: "If somebody is working from home and they are being as productive or more productive, they could argue that it saves them commuting time, it helps with looking after a relative.
"But if people expect to be able to go abroad regularly and that becomes the norm, we have a whole load of other questions to answer about our public buildings, about the cost of keeping those buildings, and about whether our productivity could be significantly increased."
A Government spokesperson said: "We expect civil servants to spend the majority of the time working from the office, and working outside of the UK must only be applied for in exceptional personal circumstances such as bereavement.
"Many of these organisations stated do not employ civil servants and have their own working abroad policies. We are currently reviewing all arm's length bodies to examine where organisations can be closed, merged or have powers brought back into the department."
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