Virginia McVea, the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), is facing calls to resign after an Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) investigation found she used unverified data to support a plan to remove pay from rescue officers.
Ms McVea had claimed that more than 90% of coastguard rescue officers (CROs) supported the proposal, citing an official survey. However, the MCA has now admitted that its poll did not sufficiently back up this claim.
Nicola Savage, a national officer for the GMB union, stated that if Ms McVea cannot produce the reports she referred to, the union would consider it a deliberate attempt to mislead and that she should resign. Joe Robertson MP accused Ms McVea of misleading MPs and coastguards in meetings where she cited the figure, calling for her to apologise and provide a written account of how the figure was repeatedly used.
The MCA's plan to stop remunerating CROs, in an attempt to reclassify them as volunteers, followed a court defeat that affirmed CROs are classed as workers with rights to minimum wage and holiday pay. The plan was ultimately scrapped by maritime minister Keir Mather due to widespread criticism, and the option of not paying coastguards is reportedly no longer being considered.