The Government Legal Department has spent almost £4m on remote working devices for its staff, according to official figures.

The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) revealed that department chiefs spent a grand total of £4,036,009 buying up new laptops, tablet computers and mobile phones. Officials spent 3,812,800 over the last three years on a fleet of 2,135 new laptops. Additionally, the department splurged £218,400 on 560 mobile phones and £4,839 on 10 tablet computers for staff.

A recent survey suggested that civil servants are among those most likely to want to work from home, despite government efforts to get them back into the office.

However, legal experts were critical of the findings.

Donal Blaney, Founder, Griffin Law said: “It’s beggars belief that officials are splashing millions of pounds of taxpayer cash to fund flexible working for layabout lawyers. Civil servants should stop milking the government’s overly generous remote working policies and get back into the office to increase productivity.”

Cybersecurity expert, Suid Adeyanju, CEO, RiverSafe said: “Regular remote working brings with it huge security risks, with mobiles and laptops containing large volumes of highly confidential data that could fall into the hands of criminals. It’s crucial that these kinds of investments are matched with the latest security protection, to keep hackers at bay and government information safe from theft.”

Achi Lewis, of Absolute Software, added: “Increasing tech investment is critical for driving efficiencies and protecting against security risks. Managing large volumes of highly sensitive data across a wide network of endpoints requires high quality, resilient IT.