MPs criticise UKBA civil servants bonus payments

Figures released by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee show the level of bonuses that were paid out for work carried out in 2010/11 - UK Border Agency civil servants get bonuses of up to £7,000:

• 1 in 4 senior civil servants at the UK Border Agency received bonuses of up to £7,000 last year;

• A fifth took home a bonus of between £4,500 and £5,000; and

• 1 in 25 were paid bonuses of between £5,000 and £7,000.

In January 2011 the Home Affairs Select Committee did recommend that no bonuses be paid to senior staff. This data has therefore raised eyebrows given the ongoing woes of the UK Border Agency with the Chairman of the Committee commenting

"The payment of bonuses in the midst of failures such as the relaxation of border controls, the inability to clear the asylum backlog and the reluctance to tackle bogus colleges through unannounced inspections must cease”.

However, the permanent secretary at the Home Office Dame Helen Ghosh stated that the data actually shows that the percentage and size of bonuses has substantially reduced over the past four years. For work in 2007/8:

• almost two-thirds of senior civil servants in the UKBA received bonuses of between £6,000 and £22,000;

• 1 in 50 received bonuses of between £20,000 and £22,000;

• 1 in 10 (11%) were paid bonuses of between £15,000 and £20,000; and

• more than 1 in 8 (13%) received bonuses of between £10,000 and £15,000.

Despite some evidence of a reduction in bonuses, given the UK Border Agency’s recent track record, the current figures will mean yet more criticism for the troubled agency.