A quarter of the UK Border Agency’s senior officials were given bonuses of up to £7,000 last year despite criticism of the agency by MPs.
More than £3 million was also paid for good performance to almost 6,000 members of staff below the ranks of the senior Civil Service, according to Home Office figures provided to the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Dame Helen Ghosh, permanent secretary at the Home Office, said that the percentage and size of bonuses paid to staff at the agency had “reduced substantially” over the past four years.
The information did not say whether bonuses were awarded to the most senior officials in the department, including Lin Homer, chief executive until January last year, her deputy, Johnathan Sedgwick, and Brodie Clark, the director of Border Force who resigned last year in a row over the relaxation of border checks.
Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, said: “In January 2011 we recommended that no bonuses should be paid to senior staff. Despite this, some have been rewarded with bonuses of up to £10,000. 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.”