As concrete crisis cripples schools, just ONE in five staff turns up at their Whitehall HQ

SCHOOL staff are frantically trying to deal with the crumbling concrete crisis - but the majority of civil servants tasked with overseeing it seemed to stay away from their offices yesterday

- Emily Braeger , Lara Hassan

The Daily Express monitored staff members entering the Department for Education building in central London between 8am and 11am.

Our team counted 209 DfE employees entering the premises on Great Smith Street, Westminster.

That works out to just 19% of the capacity with an estimated 1,100 desk spaces available in the building, according to Schools Week.

It comes as an estimated 24 schools have been forced to close because of the presence of the crumbling RAAC concrete ahead of the new term.

Some 156 schools in England have been affected in total with 104 requiring urgent action and 56 having already undergone repair work.

Our investigation adds to concerns that civil servants across Whitehall departments are increasingly working from home on Mondays and Fridays.

Privilege

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, who last year slammed staff for not being in the office by leaving "condescending" notes on desks and taking a photo of empty work stations, said: "Friday is a working day and this implies people think it is part of the weekend.