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Civil service may feel 'under attack' by new meetings ban
The Guardian
|September 24, 2025
Ministers have been warned that they risk civil servants feeling attacked after they published new guidance banning staff networks from meeting in working hours.
The document said civil servants should make sure cross-government networks remained impartial, and brought in a requirement for senior managers to sign off events.
The guidance was broadly welcomed by unions and Whitehall experts for providing clarity about the existing rules. The Cabinet Office said it had made the changes because ministers and civil service leaders had been concerned by reports of “inappropriate events” being conducted by some networks.
This story is from the September 24, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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