Enfield Council claims most of those allowed to adopt “hybrid” working from abroad were on annual leave and needed to answer emails or make decisions during their holiday

Bondi Beach in Australia (credit Ank Kumar) and (inset) Enfield Civic Centre

Enfield Council has defended its decision to allow two dozen of its staff to work “in hybrid form” from abroad in places as far flung as Australia, Jamaica and the United States of America.

An investigation by The Telegraph into homeworking by local authority staff across the UK picked out Enfield as one of the areas most accommodating of flexible work arrangements, with a request under the Freedom of Information Act revealing a total of 24 staff had been given permission to work from abroad between 2021 and 2023.

The Telegraph reported that the list of countries Enfield Civic Centre staff were permitted to work from included Australia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and the USA.

The council claims that “in the vast majority of cases” the permission was granted so that important decisions could still be made, or emails answered, by its staff while they were on holiday.

But Conservative councillor Maria Alexandrou criticised the practice and said: “I find it extraordinary that Enfield Council permits staff to work in countries as far away as Australia.

“Sourcing local people for employment would benefit the local economy and they would have a good understanding of the area. Concerns have to be raised about value for money and productivity.”

A council spokesperson said: “Less than 0.4% of the workforce were given permission to work from abroad for a short period of time in 2023/24.

“In the vast majority of these cases, there were business critical reasons for granting permission or needing to access time-sensitive emails whilst on annual leave.

“Our smart working policy ensures that flexible workers at Enfield Council must regularly attend the workplace.”

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