Before the closure some staff had been relying on Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act to justify working from home due to not feeling safe in the building
A supposedly “state of the art” UK Government office has been closed for well over a month due to chronic maintenance issues. Ty Taf, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) building in Treforest industrial estate, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has been plagued by problems since its opening – including big sheets of glass falling multiple floors.
We understand the site – where some 1,600 civil servants are based – shut indefinitely on November 27 for reasons which have not been disclosed to staff, who are working from home. The DWP refused to tell WalesOnline why the office is closed except for a vague reference to “planned maintenance”.
When the 133,000 sq ft building opened in 2021 it was lauded by the then-secretary of state for Wales, Simon Hart, as “state of the art”. But last year the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) told WalesOnline: “The DWP office at Ty Taf has been a disaster since it first opened. Despite PCS raising several health and safety issues over the years, the DWP has failed to remedy the problems.”
In the summer we revealed there had been alarming cracks to the window walls that make up much of the building’s exterior. One large pane smashed onto the ground outside after falling from the fourth floor during hot weather in July, then the following month one fell from the third floor. Another had previously cracked without falling.
“If this was a public-facing building, would the general public be expected to dodge the potential glass fall for an appointment?” one whistleblower said at the time. “There would be uproar but, as we are not open to the public, civil servant staff are expected to risk their lives going to work.”
The windows were far from the only issue. Sources have spoken of “constantly” out-of-order toilets and lifts, faulty fire detectors, “tremors” on upper floors, and two occasions when the site was flooded.
One employee told us last August: “Staff are terrified to go in, yet are being told the building is safe.”
That changed in late November when the site closed without proper explanation. It is UK Government policy that most civil servants spend at least 60% of working time in their offices. But those based at Ty Taf do not know when it will reopen.
Calling for more transparency, one employee said: “We’ve not been told the reasons other than it’s something internal that the estates team is dealing with.
“Working from home has come as a welcome change for the majority of people, as Ty Taf doesn’t have a lot of parking and the transport links are quite poor, but the concern is that when we return it’s going to be a safety hazard again.”
Another said: “The building seems to be jinxed. When windows were falling out they had a structural report on the building and assured us everything was fine.
“They claimed the errors in the windows were ‘within tolerance’ even though they kept falling out. It’s crazy but they won’t show us the full report.”
Civil servants whose circumstances prevent home working are understood to have been travelling to the Jobcentres at Pontypridd, Aberdare and other areas.
Before the closure some staff had been relying on Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act to justify working from home due to not feeling safe in the building. The law prevents workers being punished for refusing to go into work when there are safety issues.
WalesOnline has asked the DWP how much Ty Taf cost to be built. It has yet to answer that question but its spokeswoman did say: “We take staff and customer safety seriously. The building is currently closed for planned maintenance and staff are currently working from alternative locations.
“A full survey is being conducted to investigate the cause of the incident, and any recommendations will be taken to ensure the safety of the building.”
We asked if the DWP’s mention of “the incident” was a reference to the fallen glass or another matter. The spokeswoman did not reply.
If you would like to speak to WalesOnline about any concerns over the building, or about another story we should be investigating, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
