Dear Janet Eastham,

Freedom of Information Request Ref:2292

I refer to your recent request for information about working from home and
staff office attendance, which was received by the Council on the 16th May
2022.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be responded to within twenty working days
of the date of its receipt by the Council.

If you have any queries about your freedom of information request, do not
hesitate to contact me. Please quote the reference number above in any
further communication concerning your request.

Yours faithfully,

Lynne Ridley

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

Dear Janet Eastham,

Freedom of Information Request Ref: 2292

I refer to your recent request for information about Work From Home and
office attendance. The information you requested is as follows:

Q1. During the month of April 2022, how many council employees were
working from home, and what percentage of the office based workforce does
this represent EFDC is an agile workplace whereby staff choose the best
location to fulfil their work requirements on a daily basis across home,
office and in the community.  Therefore, it is not possible to give a
percentage for home and office. 

Q2. Between 1st and 30th April 2022, how many desk bookings were made
across the council's office buildings and, on average, how many desk
bookings were there a day during this month?  There is no
definitive answer across EFDC buildings as Civic has the only council wide
booking system.  470 Desks where booked in the Civic between these dates. 
This averages 22 over working days in April.  Of course some people may
use a desk without formally booking it and there are also other locations
to work in the Civic other than the formal desks.

Q3. How many desks were available for use in the month April 2022 across
the council's office buildings? Again can only provide for the Civic.  We
currently have 72 bookable desks and 5 unbookable desks.

Q4. What was the maximum number of office staff who could theoretically
work in the office on any given day in April 2022?  This is a difficult
question to answer from a practical perspective rather than Health and
Safety.  There are 72 bookable desks in the Civic.  But of course there
are other sites staff could work from too.  The Civic has five meetings
rooms which hold between 6 and 12 people.  The Conference Suite can hold
up to 200 people.  There are two Collaboration Spaces and loads of seating
in the building where staff can also work from.  There is enough space to
accommodate staff wishing to work from the office.

Q5. What was the total number of office staff who worked in your council's
offices each day prior to the pandemic? All staff worked from an office I
believe.
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require the permission of the copyright holder.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your freedom of information
request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review
requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your receipt
of this response to your request and should be addressed to: Nathalie
Boateng, Shared Head of Legal Services, Epping Forest District Council,
Civic Offices, Epping, Essex, CM16 4BZ.
Please quote the reference number above in any further communication
concerning your freedom of information request.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
connection with the Council’s handling of your request. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully,

Lynne Ridley

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000