The pandemic proved that new ways of working are possible, but having staff based at home created policy and security challenges that had to be addressed
When the pandemic hit, many of the UK’s 5.7 million public sector employees took part in the largest remote working experiment in history. At the same time, many were also thrust on to the frontline of the country’s response to the Covid crisis.
The need to provide UK citizens with vital public services in the midst of an unprecedented healthcare emergency required the rapid adoption of specialised IT equipment and collaboration tools, practically overnight. It was a herculean task, with a great deal at stake: the failure of vital healthcare, policing or judicial services would seriously damage the public’s trust in the institutions that provide them. So how has the public sector coped with these challenges?
