City Hall will reopen to staff from July 30, Sadiq Khan announces

Those who have found it hardest working from home will be allowed back first
AFP via Getty Images

City Hall is to reopen to staff – with those who have found it hardest working from home to be allowed back first.

About 200 workers – about a sixth of the Greater London Authority’s 1,190 workforce – will return from July 30, Mayor Sadiq Khan announced today.

Of the GLA's total workforce, about 750 are normally based at City Hall - and the 200 returning staff will be drawn from this number.

Priority will be given to staff who are working in “cramped, busy homes, who are feeling lonely or isolated or those who - because of the nature of their work - need to be around others for support”.

The building, home to the Mayor and the London Assembly, will remain closed to the public to minimise the risk of coronavirus.

It is close to being declared “Covid-secure” in line with Government guidelines. Desks will be kept 2m apart and a one-way system will be introduced.

City Hall, on the south bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge, closed shortly before lockdown was imposed on March 23. Staff have been working remotely for the last 18 weeks, though Mr Khan has been seen in his eighth-floor office in recent weeks.

Mr Khan said: “For four months, our staff have worked tirelessly from their homes to keep the city running, many with difficult domestic circumstances.

“We are nowhere near able to allow everyone back into City Hall and home working is going to continue for the majority of staff, but a number of GLA staff and officials, particularly those struggling with home arrangements, will now be able to return to City Hall in a safe and Covid-secure manner.”

Yesterday the Standard revealed that Mr Khan was facing a backlash against his plans to move City Hall to the East End.

He has proposed relocating the Greater London Authority to The Crystal, a small exhibition centre in the Royal Docks, by December next year to save £55m over five years.

But the cross-party assembly has demanded that other locations be considered – including the possibility of restoring County Hall, the former home of the Greater London Council, as the home of London government.

County Hall, opposite Parliament on the South Bank of the Thames, was previously home to the London County Council and then the GLC, until the GLC’s abolition by Margaret Thatcher in 1986. It now houses the London Aquarium and two hotels.