The Telegraph can also reveal that mooted plans to cut the “London weighting” of civil service pay have been quietly shelved following discussions by senior officials.

This is despite concerns that some staff are paid thousands of pounds to be based in London and have been living and working outside of the capital even after the pandemic has ended.

One role in the Department of Health offers a £4,000 pay bump if based in London, with one civil servant telling The Telegraph that taxpayers could be not getting value for money.

“Obviously there needs to be alignment with the way that civil servants are paid according to their preferences, otherwise it’s the taxpayer losing out,” they said.

It is understood that one of the difficulties around returning to the office has been due to the number of desks available for civil servants, a side-effect of the policy to sell sites in Whitehall.

A government spokesman said: “It is important that we attract, retain and develop the very best talent to work in government, while ensuring pay remains affordable.

“All pay rates and terms and conditions are set by individual departments and any London pay rates reflect the need to recruit and retain in the London market, as well as supporting civil servants with higher living costs.

“The Cabinet Secretary has been clear that we want government offices returning to full occupancy and all government departments are working to achieve this.”