£7m cost of telling staff how to keep desks tidy
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 3:03am GMT 05/01/2007

Civil servants are being trained how to keep their desks tidy as part
of a
£7 million Government project described by one union as "madness".

Staff at one HM Revenue and Customs complex have had strips of black
tape
fixed to their desks to mark where items should be placed.

The pilot study at the offices at Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, is
designed to improve efficiency by clearing clutter and keep computer
keyboards, telephones and stationery in their optimum positions.

It is included in a programme entitled Lean, introduced by consultants
Unipart to improve the performance of public sector workers more used to
dealing with red tape.

HMRC would not disclose how much Unipart was being paid for its service
but
the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) yesterday claimed that
the
dictum to desk-users was part of a £7.4 million national project.

One Longbenton worker said: "Telling people where they should place
their
telephone is demeaning and demoralising.

"It's absurd that all this public money is being spent on this when
staff
are quite capable of deciding for themselves how their desks should be
organised."

The union has had reports of staff in one office being asked if a
banana was
"active or inactive", meaning it had to be cleared from a desk unless
it was
going to be eaten immediately.

Kevin McHugh, the PCS branch secretary, said some staff at Longbenton
share
the same desk, and have to rearrange their workspace, regardless of the
tape.

He said. "This office has been open for 60 years and people have
managed to
find their pens and staplers without consultants helping them in that
time.

"They are trying to turn people into robots but the whole thing falls
down
because in certain areas we have hot-desking where different shifts
come in
and use the same desks.

"If the person coming in after you has slightly shorter arms, then the
markers will be in the wrong place.

"Marking the desk tends to get members upset sometimes when they've got
personal photographs on their desks and they have to move them around."

A HMRC spokesman explained it was "only right" that staff sharing desk
space
be given advice and support on how to make the most efficient use of the
space.

She said: "It will also help to make sure everyone has what they need
to do
their job effectively and in turn support working relationships. Staff
can
still move the things on their desk to positions that suit them best.

"Lean is all about how we can work more efficiently to deliver an even
better service to our customers."






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