The Welsh government “can’t justify continuing to hold offices open if people don’t turn up” to work in them, First Minister Eluned Morgan has warned.

Ministers aim to have staff working from the office two days a week, or 40% of the time, but in March daily office attendances averaged 16%, and just 9% at a “main hub” in Merthyr Tydfil.

The Welsh government has about 5,700 staff spread across 20 sites, and is holding a review of office requirements in Powys “partly because of the change in the way that people work”, Morgan said.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said “we have no reason to believe the current arrangements are not working”.

The 15 “core offices” include the main hubs of Cathays Park in Cardiff, Rhyd-y-Car in Merthyr Tydfil, Rhodfa Padarn in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, and Sarn Mynach in Llandudno Junction, Conwy county.

Their running costs are £24.5m, according to latest figures.

Another five offices and premises are located across Wales “to ensure a dispersed presence and to ensure that services can be delivered to meet business needs”, the Welsh government said.

It added “most staff continued to work remotely during 2023-2024. The evidence being that a higher proportion are doing so on a regular basis”.

Independent MS Russell George raised concerns in the Senedd last week about the future of the office in Newtown, Powys.

That office had the highest average daily percentage attendance in March at 22% – 17 staff.

He said it was important to have government offices across Wales “because those offices and the staff who work there support shops and services in towns as well”.

He added: “It is important to employ and retain people who live in mid Wales to make the Welsh government more reflective of the needs and requirements of all people, from all communities across Wales.”

Morgan replied: “We are having a review at the moment, partly because of the change in the way that people work.

“It is important that we encourage people to come into work; we are encouraging them to come in.

“But, clearly, there will come a point where you have to say ‘if you don’t turn up, we cannot justify keeping this particular office open’.

The review of the Powys offices, in Llandrindod Wells and Newtown, is due to be completed by the end of September.

The attendances at other offices in March included:

• Cathays Park, Cardiff – 19% (576 staff)
• Caernarfon, Gwynedd – 17% (17)
• Aberystwyth, Ceredigion – 15% (42)
• Llandrindod Wells, Powys – 12% (13)
• Llandudno Junction, Conwy – 12% (49)
• Penllergaer, Swansea – 10% (34)
• Carmarthen – 10% (33)
• Merthyr Tydfil – 9% (55)

The average daily attendance in January and February was 15%.

The Welsh government’s latest State of the Estate report, for 2023-24, published in May, said it “looks back on a year where our offices remained under occupied as staff continued to work remotely”.

“This is being addressed by an ongoing increase in the amount of spaces now allocated to public sector tenants.

“More of our spaces are being used as public sector hubs while Welsh government staff adopt a hybrid model of working.”

It continues, “the need for staff to be dispersed across Wales constrains opportunities for further office closures, however options to ‘right size’ is actively considered through development of business cases, investment appraisals and consultation with staff and trade unions as opportunities, such as break clauses or lease terminations, arise”.

It cites the example of the office at Grosvenor Road, Wrexham, which was vacated when its lease came to an end in January 2024, relocating staff into a smaller, single unit also in Wrexham.

The report also said an empty office block at Picton Terrace, Carmarthen, was surplus to requirements and being marketed, and “uncertainty about long-term working patterns have been a factor in this office space remaining vacant”.

The report added “as remote working practices become more embedded it is anticipated that the nature of the office estate will change further and more opportunities for efficiencies will arise”.

Other public bodies given office space since the Covid pandemic include the Welsh language commissioner and the Food Standards Agency.

Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, told the BBC: “The current blended working arrangements at Welsh government have been developed with unions through working in social partnership, and we have no reason to believe the current arrangements are not working.

“At such a time they are up for review, this will be done via social partnership with the Welsh government and recognised trade unions.”

FDA national officer Jane Runeckles said: “Work is what you do, not where you do it.

“The world of work has changed, and Welsh government should take pride in the fact it has taken a leading role in this.”

She added a sensible approach to hybrid working would help the Welsh government “recruit and retain the brightest and best”.