A TOP civil servant who led the government’s Covid-19 task force has apologised for partying at Downing Street.

Kate Josephs celebrated her departure as director general of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 taskforce in December 2020 with a leaving do at the height of the lockdown.

She has now offered a grovelling apology in her post as chief executive at Sheffield City Council.

In an email to council workers, she said: “I am truly sorry,” but recipients have expressed anger and dismay following the apology.

Deanne Ferguson, full-time organiser of general union GMB in Sheffield, said: “Our members, and the people of Sheffield, deserve better than this. 

"They are rightly angry and upset and want answers. 

“Schools were forced to close; many people lost their jobs and families lost loved ones.” She said GMB staff are dismayed and “desperately await answers.”