Hundreds of council staff given green light to work from abroad including Spain and the Philippines

Hundreds of council employees were authorised to work remotely from vacation destinations, including Spain, Dubai and the Philippines, reveals new research.

Council leaders in the UK approved over 1,358 requests for remote work from abroad, and the number of approvals has grown tenfold each year, showed an analysis done by TaxPayers’ Alliance.

The free-market advocacy group sent freedom of information requests to all 383 councils in the UK. Out of these, 320 responded and 69 councils confirmed they had granted one or more staff members permission to work from overseas.

The number of approved requests increased from 73 in 2020-21 to 440 in the following year, and further increased to 708 in 2022-23.

Barnet Council in North London topped the list by granting the highest number of requests to work from abroad, with a total of 286 approvals over three years.

Following closely were Merton in South London and Islington, with 251 and 237 permissions granted respectively.

Staff members were permitted to work from various locations, including Spain, Australia, Dubai, Brazil, India, Italy, France, Thailand, the Philippines, Jamaica, Croatia, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Gran Canaria and Indonesia.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt earlier expressed concerns that companies might miss out on “water cooler moments” if employees chose to continue working remotely or from home. He said going to offices should be the “default” option.

But councils earlier this week said “flexible working” was crucial for recruiting and retaining the right staff.

“Hard-pressed households will be shocked by the number of public sector staff working from abroad,” John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, was quoted as saying by The Times.

“Residents forking out record rates expect officials to be using the office space taxpayers are footing the bill for. Council staff should get off the sun loungers and get back to town halls.”

A spokesman for Islington council told the outlet that it “recognises the importance of flexible working options to provide our staff with greater choice and flexibility”.