John Swinney is facing fresh pressure over the Scottish Government’s home-working policy after just 36 civil servants reportedly arrived at one of its largest offices before 9am on a Friday.
A snapshot by The Scottish Mail on Sunday found only 36 workers had arrived at Victoria Quay in Edinburgh by 9am, rising to 50 by 9.30am, despite the building having capacity for around 2,200 staff.
The office costs £2.4million a year to run and had an occupancy rate of just 27.1% in June, according to government figures.
The findings come despite Mr Swinney pledging last year that Scotland’s civil servants would be required to spend at least 40% of their working week in the office.
Miles Briggs, Conservative MSP, said: “This is an astonishing waste of taxpayers’ money and yet another sign that the SNP government has completely lost control of their army of civil servants."
The Scottish Government said it remained “committed to flexible hybrid working” and was reducing its estate in response to changing working patterns.