Only about 25 percent of staff in one government department are currently in the office on any one day, a minister has said, despite the Chancellor advocating the benefits of young people returning to the workplace. Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, gave the estimate for the Department for Education when asked on Times Radio on Tuesday morning how many civil servants have returned to the office. The Cabinet Office declined to release a figure or estimate for the proportion of the Civil Service currently working back in the office across all departments, and said each area has flexibility to make its own arrangements. The government is no longer instructing people to work from home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and is instead saying that it will leave the decision over workplace returns to businesses. But government advice also says it “expects and recommends a gradual return …