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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Theresa May eases committee row over border force budget | Theresa May eases committee row over border force budget |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The home secretary had to defuse an increasingly ill-tempered row with the Commons home affairs committee that saw her issued with a last-minute summons to answer questions over border security funding. | The home secretary had to defuse an increasingly ill-tempered row with the Commons home affairs committee that saw her issued with a last-minute summons to answer questions over border security funding. |
| Theresa May wrote to Keith Vaz, the committee chair, on Monday to tell him that the head of the Border Force, Sir Charles Montgomery, did now know his budget for this financial year – albeit “subject to change”. | Theresa May wrote to Keith Vaz, the committee chair, on Monday to tell him that the head of the Border Force, Sir Charles Montgomery, did now know his budget for this financial year – albeit “subject to change”. |
| May had been summoned to appear before the committee on Tuesday afternoon if she had failed to respond to Vaz’s demands to know if the Border Force budget had been agreed amid Labour claims that it faced cuts of at least 6% this year. | May had been summoned to appear before the committee on Tuesday afternoon if she had failed to respond to Vaz’s demands to know if the Border Force budget had been agreed amid Labour claims that it faced cuts of at least 6% this year. |
| Related: Border staff are needed more than ever, but are being battered by cuts | Related: Border staff are needed more than ever, but are being battered by cuts |
| When Oliver Robbins, the department’s second permanent secretary, declined to answer the question for the ninth time, Vaz told him: “I am going to excuse you from this committee because I think your evidence has been unsatisfactory.” | When Oliver Robbins, the department’s second permanent secretary, declined to answer the question for the ninth time, Vaz told him: “I am going to excuse you from this committee because I think your evidence has been unsatisfactory.” |
| An increasingly acrimonious exchange of correspondence between May and Vaz has taken place since the hearing last Tuesday, with the home secretary explicitly telling the committee chairman that she was “extremely displeased” with the approach he had taken. “He was questioned for less than 20 minutes before you dismissed him,” she said. | An increasingly acrimonious exchange of correspondence between May and Vaz has taken place since the hearing last Tuesday, with the home secretary explicitly telling the committee chairman that she was “extremely displeased” with the approach he had taken. “He was questioned for less than 20 minutes before you dismissed him,” she said. |
| She rejected Vaz’s request that Robbins should reappear before the committee and hinted at withdrawing her permission for other Home Office civil servants to give evidence in future, saying it was for ministers to account for government decisions. | She rejected Vaz’s request that Robbins should reappear before the committee and hinted at withdrawing her permission for other Home Office civil servants to give evidence in future, saying it was for ministers to account for government decisions. |
| The row over whether a senior civil servant should be required to disclose whether the border force budget has yet been agreed is particularly sensitive, as the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, has repeatedly claimed that May is hiding “dangerous cuts” in the frontier force. He says whistleblowers have told him that 6% cuts are planned for this financial year and a further 6% for next. | The row over whether a senior civil servant should be required to disclose whether the border force budget has yet been agreed is particularly sensitive, as the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, has repeatedly claimed that May is hiding “dangerous cuts” in the frontier force. He says whistleblowers have told him that 6% cuts are planned for this financial year and a further 6% for next. |
| But the home secretary defended her refusal to publish the individual budgets of parts of her department saying their funding allocations were made separately within the overall Home Office total and “are subject to change throughout the financial year”. She has also defended her record on border security. | But the home secretary defended her refusal to publish the individual budgets of parts of her department saying their funding allocations were made separately within the overall Home Office total and “are subject to change throughout the financial year”. She has also defended her record on border security. |
| Related: Border force warns terrorists could enter EU by abusing asylum checks | Related: Border force warns terrorists could enter EU by abusing asylum checks |
| In the exchange of correspondence released on Monday, Vaz denied he had dismissed Robbins and demanded that May answer the question of whether Montgomery had been told his budget allocation for the 2016/17 business year, which started in April. | |
| “Once again, if my single question to Oliver Robbins – and to you, can be answered prior to this time then it will not be necessary for you to attend and give evidence. Should I not receive a response, then I will look forward to seeing you at 2.15pm [on Tuesday],” Vaz told her on Monday afternoon, copying the letter to David Cameron and George Osborne. | “Once again, if my single question to Oliver Robbins – and to you, can be answered prior to this time then it will not be necessary for you to attend and give evidence. Should I not receive a response, then I will look forward to seeing you at 2.15pm [on Tuesday],” Vaz told her on Monday afternoon, copying the letter to David Cameron and George Osborne. |
| The home secretary defused the row when she replied to Vaz on Monday night to answer his question. | The home secretary defused the row when she replied to Vaz on Monday night to answer his question. |
| May also explained that Robbins had been unable to give an answer in his committee appearance last Tuesday because “in-year” changes were still under discussion in the Border Force budget. | May also explained that Robbins had been unable to give an answer in his committee appearance last Tuesday because “in-year” changes were still under discussion in the Border Force budget. |
| Parliament will be informed shortly of the detailed changes to the border security budget when the department’s main supplementary estimates are published.As the home affairs committee row escalated, a second Commons committee, the public accounts committee, was adjourned “with regret” by its chair, the former Home Office minister Meg Hillier, when the most senior Home Office official, Mark Sedwill, failed to provide detailed answers to their questions on criminal confiscation orders. | Parliament will be informed shortly of the detailed changes to the border security budget when the department’s main supplementary estimates are published.As the home affairs committee row escalated, a second Commons committee, the public accounts committee, was adjourned “with regret” by its chair, the former Home Office minister Meg Hillier, when the most senior Home Office official, Mark Sedwill, failed to provide detailed answers to their questions on criminal confiscation orders. |
| He was ordered to return to the committee within 10 days with the information requested. | He was ordered to return to the committee within 10 days with the information requested. |