![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/21\/75018233-0-image-a-25_1693772371936.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen Covid first swept the country, it made sense for the Government to tell those who could work from home to do so.<\/p>\n
But what was intended as a privilege in a time of crisis has for many become a way of life. It’s not hard to understand why. More time spent with loved ones or in the garden, less on hellish commutes.<\/p>\n
Yet for hundreds of council staff, even these flexible arrangements are not cushy enough. A damning investigation by the TaxPayers’ Alliance has found that Town Hall chiefs are letting pampered employees effectively ‘work from the beach’.<\/p>\n
New figures show that last year local authorities permitted 708 penpushers to work remotely from places overseas, from Australia to Brazil. That was a staggering ten-fold increase from 73 in 2020-21, at the peak of the pandemic. Since then, travel curbs have been long axed.<\/p>\n
And it’s not as if they are logging in from faraway destinations just for a day or two while overcoming unforeseen circumstances. No, they are abroad for weeks, months and even years. Councils clearly believe giving workers the freedom to swap the sofa for the sun lounger will help convince them not to quit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
DAILY MAIL COMMENT:\u00a0A damning investigation by the TaxPayers’ Alliance has found that Town Hall chiefs are letting pampered employees effectively ‘work from the beach’ (file photo)<\/p>\n
This is possible because of rapid advances in technology. But for it to be acceptable, the public would need to be receiving decent services. Depressingly, despite painful council tax rises, they’re not.<\/p>\n
The disinterest of featherbedded council workers in returning to the office full time is hardly surprising, but it has real world consequences. Everything from applying for a new parking permit to arranging social care for an elderly relative has become more of an ordeal.<\/p>\n
Teamwork and esprit de corps are inevitably diminished. It is bad for productivity. The effects too are felt by local businesses, some of which will probably go bust from the lost footfall.<\/p>\n
Town Halls would do well to mirror a shift in the private sector, with banks and even Zoom having all recently announced staff should be back in the office more often.<\/p>\n
Yes, home-working has its place post-Covid. But the public sector’s most important consideration should be delivering effective services for the taxpayer \u2013 not helping their workers top up their tans.<\/p>\n
Labour has slithered back into the political sewer with another grubby, provocative and misleading ‘attack ad’ against Rishi Sunak.<\/p>\n
After falsely claiming the PM didn’t want to send paedophiles to prison, Sir Keir Starmer’s spin doctors are trying to hold Mr Sunak responsible for children being sent to crumbling unsafe schools.<\/p>\n
Like their original smear, this one may also rebound. First, the Government has closed classrooms as a precaution so pupils could not be hurt by collapsing concrete.<\/p>\n
And second, the Labour-run Welsh government is still recklessly sending students back to school, despite having no idea whether buildings are safe.<\/p>\n
Not for the first time, Sir Keir is showing himself to be a hypocrite. His cynical tactics may excite his Leftist inner circle, but they will surely leave most voters cold.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/21\/75018257-0-image-a-26_1693772407381.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Labour has slithered back into the political sewer with another grubby, provocative and misleading ‘attack ad’<\/p>\n
What realistic deterrent currently exists to stop a migrant buying a place in a smuggler’s boat in Calais and illegally crossing the Channel?<\/p>\n
As another 872 arrived on our shores in dinghies on Saturday, it emerged that more than 40,000 failed asylum seekers are still awaiting removal.<\/p>\n
Once here, the prospect of being sent home is so vanishingly small it encourages others to make the treacherous trip.<\/p>\n
What a damning illustration of the migrants’ disdain for our borders \u2013 and the Government’s failure<\/p>\n