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| Passport Office staff given up to £674,000 in bonuses amid delays | Passport Office staff given up to £674,000 in bonuses amid delays |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The Home Office paid Passport Office staff up to £674,000 in bonuses this summer during the biggest backlog of travel documents for decades. More than 3,800 employees, including some managers, received lump sums of up to £5,000 in July. Weeks earlier, Britain's passport system was hit by delays after a change in the way applications were processed. | |
| The figures were disclosed on Thursday after a Freedom of Information request by Labour. David Hanson, the shadow immigration minister, said: "Families who struggled to go on holiday because of passport chaos will be even more dismayed at this waste and extravagance as they struggle to pay day-to-day bills. This is yet another example of ministerial incompetence and waste." | |
| The FOI documents show that 3,817 staff received bonuses for this financial year, while a Home Office spokesman said the payments were made in July. One person received up to £5,000, eight people received up to £2,000 and 198 people received up to £1,000. A further 905 managers received up to £500. | The FOI documents show that 3,817 staff received bonuses for this financial year, while a Home Office spokesman said the payments were made in July. One person received up to £5,000, eight people received up to £2,000 and 198 people received up to £1,000. A further 905 managers received up to £500. |
| Some senior managers received bonuses, according to the Passport Office's accounts. Paul Pugh, the current director of the Passport Office, told the home affairs select committee in June that he would forgo a bonus this year. | |
| The Passport Office said it had had to deal with the highest demand for passports in 12 years, with a backlog of more than 30,000 in July. Unions blamed the backlog on job cuts. The Home Office last year cut several passport offices within foreign embassies at an annual saving of £20m and moved the work to their centres in Liverpool, Durham and Belfast. | |
| But the backlog of passport applications began months in January, according to staff. Many were asked to work longer hours. | |
| Staff employed to detect fraud, as well as others who would usually conduct interviews with suspect applicants, were asked to help process the delayed applications. | |
| Problems came to a head in May and June when hundreds of applicants became concerned that their families would not be able to leave for summer holidays. Some complained of waiting for up to two months for documents to be returned. Photographs leaked to the Guardian showed boxes of applications piling up in temporary storage in Liverpool. | Problems came to a head in May and June when hundreds of applicants became concerned that their families would not be able to leave for summer holidays. Some complained of waiting for up to two months for documents to be returned. Photographs leaked to the Guardian showed boxes of applications piling up in temporary storage in Liverpool. |
| Mark Serwotka, the head of PCS union which represents workers within the Passport Office, said that the Home Office has resisted giving staff proper payrises and accompanying pension payments and has instead tried to rely upon the payment of bonuses instead. | |
| "We want bonuses across the civil service to be scrapped, as they're all too often discriminatory against lower paid staff and the money should be put in the pot for proper pay rises. This is especially important in the Passport Office where workers can be paid up to £3,000 less than their colleagues elsewhere in the Home Office for equivalent work," he said. | "We want bonuses across the civil service to be scrapped, as they're all too often discriminatory against lower paid staff and the money should be put in the pot for proper pay rises. This is especially important in the Passport Office where workers can be paid up to £3,000 less than their colleagues elsewhere in the Home Office for equivalent work," he said. |
| A Home Office spokesperson said that staff were rewarded because the Passport Office achieved seven out of its eight key performance targets and came within 2% of hitting fraud prevention and detection targets. | A Home Office spokesperson said that staff were rewarded because the Passport Office achieved seven out of its eight key performance targets and came within 2% of hitting fraud prevention and detection targets. |
| "A bonus payment was made to some junior staff at HM Passport Office for reaching key targets in 2013/14 – the vast majority received less than £500. | "A bonus payment was made to some junior staff at HM Passport Office for reaching key targets in 2013/14 – the vast majority received less than £500. |
| "None of these payments was for work carried out during this financial year," he said. | "None of these payments was for work carried out during this financial year," he said. |
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