Attendance by staff working at the Welsh Government’s £20m offices in Aberystwyth is just 15 per cent, fresh figures have revealed, as First Minister Eluned Morgan has warned that buildings could close if people don’t turn up to work.

Despite having the capacity for 535 staff at the Rhodfa Padarn offices in Llanbadarn Fawr, built in October 2009 at a cost of £20.8m to the taxpayer, ministers aim to have staff working from the office two days a week, or 40 per cent of the time.

But across all Welsh Government buildings, the daily office attendance in March was just 16 per cent.

At Rhodfa Padarn, that figure was 15 per cent.

The First Minister warned that the Welsh Government "can't justify continuing to hold offices open if people don't turn up" to work in them while responding to a question by Montgomeryshire MS Russell George on a review of Welsh Government buildings in Powys.

Mr George raised concerns in the Senedd last week about the future of the office in Newtown.

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".

“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,” he said.

The First Minister said that the review is being held “partly because of the change in the way that people work.”

“It is important that we encourage people to come into work,” she said.

“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 Welsh Government's latest State of the Estate report, for 2023-24, published in May, said that offices “remained under-occupied as staff continued to work remotely.”

The report said that space in its offices – an issue for several years with the Cambrian News reporting back in 2015 that only the Aberystwyth offices had 85 empty desks – 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,” the report said.

“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.”

The report added that “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.”

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