The UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps has said it is safe to go back to work in England, as the government prepares to launch a publicity drive to persuade the public to return to the office. Ministers are concerned about the prospects for city centre businesses if more office workers fail to return to their workplaces. The Cabinet Office will take out ads in regional newspapers after schoolchildren in England return to the classroom next week, advising employers about how to make their offices Covid-secure, and encouraging the public to feel safe to go back. Speaking on Sky News from his home, Shapps said: “What we’re saying to people is it is now safe to go back to work and your employer should have made arrangements which are appropriate to make sure that it is coronavirus-safe to work and you will see some changes if you haven’t been in for a bit as a result.” He said there was a limit, “in human terms”, to remote working. “The vast majority of employers just want to get their businesses back up and running, they want to do the right thing, and many will have found that actually home working can work for some of their employees.” But he added: “I think there’s a limit, just in human terms, to remote working. And there are things where you just need to spark off each other and get together in order to make progress. So I think common sense will prevail between employers and employees.”
The sandwich chain Pret a Manger announced on Thursday it would cut nearly 2,900 jobs after the desertion of high streets due to the coronavirus pandemic sent its sales plummeting, underlining the potential impact of changing work habits. The CBI’s director general, Carolyn Fairbairn, has warned that city centres could become “ghost towns” unless more is done to help. Labour has urged the government to provide more support for high street businesses – in particular those that are still seeing a sharp decline in trade due to government restrictions. The shadow business and consumer minister, Lucy Powell, said: “It’s no wonder businesses and workers don’t feel confident about going to the office given the government’s confusing and inconsistent messaging.
“Ministers must come forward with a clear plan to reassure businesses they can safely return, supported by a working test and trace system.” Downing Street sources distanced the government from reports that ministers would argue that working from home could put employees more at risk of being fired. Responding to a Daily Telegraph headline that said, “Go back to work or risk losing your job,” a government source said: “This is a deeply irresponsible headline with no truth behind it. Our priority has always and will always be protecting people’s jobs.” In a separate interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Shapps cited the impact on workers’ mental health of staying at home – pointing to the experience of young workers, in flat-shares, on video-conference calls all day “from a corner of their bedroom”. “For a lot of people, it will be the right time to return,” he said. Asked whether the dramatic changes in work habits kicked off by the lockdown could become permanent, with a knock-on effect on many city centre firms, Shapps said: “I don’t agree with this apocalyptic view of the workplace, but I do agree that we’re going to be in a period of quite tremendous change at the moment.”