UK coastguard agency chief faces resignation calls over unverified data

Virginia McVea, chief executive of the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), is facing calls to resign. She is said to have used unverified data to defend a controversial plan to stop paying coastguard rescue officers. An investigation by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has led the agency to admit its poll did not sufficiently support her claim.

Background to the plan

Coastguard rescue officers (CROs) serve as volunteers, but a court ruled that they are workers entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay, because they are paid for their time among other factors. Rather than respect that status, the MCA tried to end their pay in order to reclassify them as volunteers. MPs, CROs and coastal communities heavily criticised the plan, and the GMB union said nearly 600 CROs backed its vote of no confidence in McVea.

In defending the plan, McVea cited an official survey she said showed more than 90% of CROs supported it. In July, MPs told the Guardian they felt misled.

The regulator's findings

In a letter to McVea, OSR director general Ed Humpherson said neither of the cited surveys asked CROs directly about support for the proposed volunteer model, so they do not provide evidence for the claims. He added that the MCA had been unable to provide further evidence.

Leaked results of an MCA survey, revealed by the Guardian in July, showed that CROs had been asked how volunteer and worker models would affect their availability. The results suggested that those who said they would become less able to respond to calls as volunteers, and those who answered “other”, were counted among supporters of the volunteer model.

Reactions

Nicola Savage, a national officer at the GMB, said that if McVea cannot produce the reports, the union would regard it as a deliberate attempt to mislead, and that she should resign. MP Joe Robertson, who has campaigned for CROs, accused McVea of misleading MPs and coastguards in three meetings and called on her to apologise.

Maritime minister Keir Mather ultimately scrapped the plan in response to near-universal criticism. CROs are still waiting to learn which system will be adopted, but the option of not paying them is understood to be off the table. The MCA has been approached for comment.