Mandarin defies ministers over working from home
‘Abi’s work location has had precisely zero bearing on the current situation with passports’
ONE of the country’s most senior civil servants has put himself at odds with the Government over working from home by issuing a public statement in support of the beleaguered head of the Passport Office.
Matthew Rycroft, the permanent secretary at the Home Office, said that where the Passport Office’s directorgeneral worked had “precisely zero bearing” on the crisis engulfing her organisation.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday that Abi Tierney, the £160,000-a-year Passport Office boss, has been working from home in Leicestershire, 100 miles from her organisation’s headquarters in London, as well as from satellite offices around the country.
Yesterday she and other officials were due to be summoned to the Cabinet Office by Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to explain how they were going to tackle a passport applications backlog and 10-week wait that threatens the summer plans of tens of thousands of holidaymakers.
It also emerged that a French call centre firm at the centre of the chaos runs the helplines for Britain’s muchcriticised Ukrainian refugee schemes.
Boris Johnson earlier this week went on the offensive against working from home, criticising “post-covid mañana culture” which he claimed had crept into the public sector, while also reportedly threatening to “privatise the a---” out of the passport service.
Jacob Rees-mogg, the Cabinet minister in charge of government efficiency, has issued a warning to senior civil servants to return to their offices and has even taken to placing notes on empty desks, declaring: “Sorry you were out when I visited.”
But Mr Rycroft took the unusual step of releasing a statement yesterday in defence of Dr Tierney that could place him in opposition to some ministers.
Mr Rycroft said: “This story totally ignores reality. Abi is a hugely talented leader, heading up our world-class visa and passport operations.
“With sites spread across the UK, Abi works day-in, day-out with teams around the country delivering vital services for the British public.
“Abi’s work location has had precisely zero bearing on the current situation with passports, which has largely resulted from a drop in applications during the pandemic. Our teams are working flat out to meet the demand.
“We are proud to be spreading opportunity and talent across the country, moving away from the outdated notion that everything must be done in London.”
Mr Rycroft, the most senior official in the Home Office, earlier this month warned Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, that the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda lacked “sufficient evidence” to demonstrate the scheme’s benefits. Home Office officials said Dr Tierney worked the “vast majority” of
her time at passport offices around the country, including London and “occasionally” at home, but would not publicly be more precise.
A source said Mr Rycroft was not supporting working from home but the rights of officials “working out of London”. Asked if there was a risk of appearing to clash with Mr Rees-mogg’s campaign, the source said: “Yes, potentially, but that’s clearly a debate that is already happening in government.”
The source pointed out that Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, had accused Mr Rees-mogg of a “Dickensian” approach in “measuring bodies behind desks”. Sarah Healey, the permanent secretary at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has previously extolled the virtues of working from home because it gives her more time on her exercise bike.
It came as Dr Tierney summoned the boss of the French company behind the passport helpline chaos for a carpeting over its “unacceptable” performance.
She demanded improvements from the boss of Paris-based Teleperformance over complaints of unanswered calls, delays of up to four hours in answering customers and failing to provide accurate information.
The company, which is now bringing in hundreds of extra staff, has also been responsible for running the helplines in the Ukrainian refugee schemes, where there have been complaints that it has been unable to update applicants on the status of their visa application.
Yesterday it emerged that only a fifth – 11,100 – of the 51,300 Ukrainians granted visas under the Homes for Ukraine scheme had arrived in the UK. Some 16,000 of the 34,900 Ukrainians granted visas have entered the UK.
Teleperformance did not respond to request for comment.