{"id":140638,"date":"2020-08-26T14:43:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T14:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=140638"},"modified":"2020-09-02T06:37:14","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T06:37:14","slug":"downing-street-refuses-to-call-for-londoners-to-go-back-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/downing-street-refuses-to-call-for-londoners-to-go-back-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Downing Street refuses to call for Londoners to go back to work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Downing Street has refused to call for more people to return to their offices, despite increasing fears that decreased foot traffic in central London will cripple the economy.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s official spokesman said today that it was up to individual employers to decide whether to bring back employees, while also refusing to say if Boris Johnson supports growing calls for people to return to work.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/strong>Matt Hancock: There\u2019s one big reason it\u2019s safe to return to the office<\/a><\/p>\n

When pushed specifically on whether Johnson supported City of London workers returning to the office, the spokesman said it was still up to companies to decide.<\/p>\n

This appears to be in contrast with the Prime Minister\u2019s own words earlier this month when he called for people to have \u201cconfidence\u201d to return to the workplace.<\/p>\n

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick earlier this month also pushed for people to return to work, saying \u201cwe need to get back [into city and town centres]\u201d to ensure that bricks and mortar retail and hospitality businesses will survive.<\/p>\n

Before the Open newsletter: Start your day with the City View podcast and key market data<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also called for a return to work, saying recently that empty offices were \u201ca big problem\u201d<\/a> for the economy.<\/p>\n

However, the Prime Minister\u2019s spokesman was not bullish today about Londoners returning to work in person.<\/p>\n

It comes as Johnson today said it was \u201cvitally important\u201d that every English school student returned to the clasroom full time from next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister has been clear it\u2019s for individual workers to speak to their employers and where Covid secure workplaces have been set up it is for the employer to work though that with employee,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t work from home, you should speak to employers and it\u2019s up to employers to provide secure workplaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the beginning of August, employers have been given more discretion to bring staff back to the office as long as it is safe.<\/p>\n

Over the last couple of months, Square Mile companies have slowly begun to reopen their doors to staff, many of whom are embracing the rise of so-called hybrid working.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/strong>Four-fifths of Londoners want to get back to the office<\/a><\/p>\n

Joanna Swash, chief executive of customer services and office support provider Moneypenny, told City A.M. <\/em>today that it was vital for Londoners to return to the office, a view that is growing among business leaders.<\/p>\n

New figures from IT provider Atlas Cloud also show four-in-five Londoners want to return to their workplace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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