Working from home and government buildings: FOI release

Information requested

A. The proportion of government workspace currently sitting unused due to staff working from home (WFH) Please provide this in both sq. floor space and Percentage of overall floor space.

B. How many rooms are empty due to council staff working from home?

C. How many buildings are empty due to council staff working from home?

D. The number of staff that are currently WFH?

E. How much money is currently being spent by the Scottish Government heating/powering this empty space? If you cannot provide a full figure, please provide an estimate ii. Please break down into the different bills (such as electric and gas).

F. Please can you confirm if the Scottish Government is considering giving up any of this property due to its lack of use and staff WFH. Please provide address details for any confirmed property being considered.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below. This is formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information requested.

A. The proportion of government workspace currently sitting unused due to staff working from home (WFH) Please provide this in both sq. floor space and Percentage of overall floor space.

A. The Scottish Government is currently operating a hybrid working model. We do not currently have a system to accurately measure the percentage or quantity of unused space in Scottish Government buildings.

B. How many rooms are empty due to council staff working from home?

B. The Scottish Government does not monitor room usage across it's estate.

C. How many buildings are empty due to council staff working from home?

C. No buildings are empty as a result of Scottish Government staff working from home.

D. The number of staff that are currently WFH?

D. Since February 2022, in-line with businesses across Scotland moving towards hybrid working, the Scottish Government has been engaging with staff and trade unions to trial hybrid working. All staff are encouraged to find a hybrid workstyle that meets business need, whilst balancing personal circumstances. We do not hold data on the number of staff working from home due to the hybrid nature of working patterns.

E. How much money is currently being spent by the Scottish Government heating/powering this empty space? If you cannot provide a full figure, please provide an estimate ii. Please break down into the different bills (such as electric and gas).

E. As stated under response C, no buildings are empty as a result of Scottish Government staff working from home.

F. Please can you confirm if the Scottish Government is considering giving up any of this property due to its lack of use and staff WFH. Please provide address details for any confirmed property being considered.

F. As required by the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM), SG aim to obtain best value from the estate of the Scottish Ministers. Through ongoing asset management, we are continuously reviewing opportunities to rationalise the estate in line with SG Estates strategy and to increase sharing of space across the public sector.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.