Home Office pays Border Force staff ’s £28,000 Paris school fees

BORDER Force staff working abroad have been allowed to claim Paris school fees as high as £28,000 for their children, despite threats of a strike over pay and conditions.

In August the Home Office spent £100,000 on fees for three “Border Force dependants” to join an elite private institution attended by the children of film stars and socialites.

Established in 1964, the International School of Paris, where the children have been educated, is minutes from the Eiffel Tower and charges £28,000 per year for children aged between 10 and 15.

Analysis of government contracts by The Sunday Telegraph suggests that the fees include tuition for two students of secondary school age and one child in nursery school. The Home Office also paid a non-refundable £878 application fee and £8,300 entry fee for each child.

Border Force officials posted abroad are understood to be allowed to claim a similar allowance as Foreign Office diplomats, whose school fee entitlement is capped at £24,810 per year for a senior non-boarder.

Earlier this week Border Force officials joined around 100,000 civil servants in voting to strike over pay and conditions. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which is representing them, is demanding a 10 per cent pay increase, better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.

Mark Serwotka, the union’s general secretary, said that if the Government did not meet the terms he would have “no option than to launch a prolonged programme of industrial action reaching into every corner of public life”.

He added that members had “reached the end of their tethers” over the pressures of the cost of living crisis, job cuts and office closures.

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has signed an order allowing military personnel to temporarily fill the roles occupied by Border Force staff while they are on strike.

The industrial action has provoked fury from officials who are concerned it will cause delays for Christmas holidaymakers.

A government source said: “If the Border Force union wants to play political games, it should not be families who pay the price.

“Forcing airlines to cancel flights will ruin the festive plans of thousands of people and scupper the delivery of presents. They should put people before politics.”

The Home Office was contacted for comment.