3 Consultation
Consultation with the Secretary
of State for Wales
17. We examined what, if any consultation, the Home
Office had had with the Secretary of State for Wales prior to
the public announcement, particularly as this was a policy with
cross-border implications. The principle of timely consultation
on policy matters that may affect Wales is described in Devolution
Guidance Note 4:
… it is essential if there is to be no delay
in reaching decisions that the Secretary of State [for Wales]
and the Assembly Government are consulted at an early stage in
the development of policy. […] Colleagues are asked therefore:
- that
officials should take soundings of Assembly officials as soon
as possible. If these indicate that there may be clauses in the
legislation dealing specifically with Wales or particular issues
relating to Wales, officials in the Wales Office should be alerted;
- that
whenever possible the relevant Assembly Minister should be asked
for his or her views on a proposal at the same time as policy
clearance is sought from Cabinet colleagues […]
While this is particularly important for primary
legislation, the principle should be applied to any Government
initiative that affects Wales.[18]
18. The Minister confirmed that the Secretary of
State for Wales had been informed of the "settled view"
regarding the closure of the Newport Passport Office on 5 October.[19]
There seemed to be no suggestion that the Secretary of State for
Wales had been consulted prior to this, or that the Welsh Assembly
Government had been informed or consulted in any way prior to
the Government's decision.
19. In its report
on Wales and Whitehall, our predecessor Committee concluded that
Whitehall guidance as it applies to Wales has been misunderstood
on a number of occasions. We conclude that such a misunderstanding
has occurred again. Devolution Guidance Note 4 is clear on the
key role of the Secretary of State for Wales and the Wales Office
from the start and throughout any process. On this occasion the
Secretary of State for Wales was marginalised during the decision
process. The decision-making process was flawed by this omission.
Negotiations with the unions
20. The Minister told us that he had been informed
of the intention by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) "to
bring forward restructuring proposals" in July 2010. On 31
August 2010, the IPS Management Board agreed to recommend to Ministers
the closure of the Newport regional office. The decision was made
public on 8 October 2010.
21. Concern has been expressed about the nature of
the consultations that took place before the announcement was
made. The Home Office claimed that the IPS had been in discussion
with the PCS about the need to restructure passport operations
for some time, and specifically about the closure of the Newport
Passport Office. Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the Identity
and Passport Service, told us that discussions had centred on:
… the fact that we had overcapacity and that
we were actually going to have to do something […]and secondly,
then, how we came to the conclusion that the proposal ought to
be the [closure of the] Newport office. It was those two things.
The PCS were informally talking with us through that period.[20]
22. PCS disputed the IPS's assessment that they had
been prepared to consider office closure:
IPS management seem to be suggesting that PCS was
prepared to consider accepting office closures, which is not the
case. We did indeed take part in informal meetings, during which
the closure of the Newport office was discussed. What IPS management
has not made clear, however, is that throughout those meetings
PCS maintained a stance of implacable opposition to office closures
and redundancies in any office within IPS …[21]
23. The extended consultation period will end on
18 March 2011. In its written evidence, PCS criticised the IPS
for its failure to properly consult with them. They described
a "drip-drip" approach to the provision of information
during the formal consultation period: [22]
We have had a number of meetings with IPS management
but we believe that the employer has been evasive and is not willing
to consult properly with the union. Documents have been provided
to PCS in a piecemeal fashion, with the result that at each meeting
we have had to request further information. Documents have also
been provided late, sometimes on the very day of consultation
meetings.[23]
24. The
breakdown in the relationship between IPS management and the Public
and Commercial Services Union, which has deteriorated to the level
of both sides publicly trading claims and counter-claims, is a
demonstration of the mismanagement of the appraisal and consultation
process relating to the proposed decision to close the Newport
Passport Application Processing Centre.
Announcement of the proposed closure
25. We looked at the way in which the actual announcement
was made to staff and by whom. The proposal to close the Newport
Office was made public on 8 October as a result of a leak,[24]
which was then confirmed by IPS. Alan Brown, IPS Group Secretary
of PCS described how:
We had been contacted by the BBC on the morning of
the 8th. They said that they had two sources from the
Home Office who had confirmed that there was going to be the announcement
of the closure of the Newport office and they asked if we wanted
to comment.[25]
The Minister stated that he had "seen no evidence
at all that a Home Office official leaked this information",[26]
while PCS confirmed that the IPS management originally held them
responsible "but have since accepted that we were not".[27]
26. The Minister accepted that the announcement should
have occurred in a more "orderly way",[28]
while Alan Brown commented on the results of the announcement:
… we had members who effectively were being
told that their jobs were going and were left in tears [...] with
the announcement that was made on that day.[29]
27. In its written evidence, Newport City Council
stated that the announcement was completely unexpected:
… by the workforce, the community of Newport,
the City Council, Newport Unlimited [the publicly funded Urban
Regeneration Company for the city] and the Welsh Assembly Government.
The Council, URC, WAG and other IPS stakeholders had been working
tirelessly behind the scenes over the last 3 years to assist IPS
in their search for new office space in the area to meet all the
current and future requirements, economically, efficiently and
effectively.[30]
28. Alan Brown criticised the way in which the news
was confirmed by a civil servant and not a politician responsible
for the decision:
The fact that it seemed to be a civil servant who
was left to carry the can and to deliver that news was quite extraordinary.
In fact, for quite some time afterwards, it seemed to be civil
servants that were left to defend the decision, which we do not
think is defensible in the first place. In terms of quotes in
the press, etc., it seemed to be civil servants and the chief
executive who were left to make that decision and to defend that
decision.[31]
29. Further confusion resulted when, following the
initial announcement of the complete closure of the Newport Office,
the Home Office then announced that the closure would only involve
the "back office" work to produce passports and that
the IPS would retain a customer service centre in Newport. In
written evidence to the Committee, PCS stated that:
The announcement of 'up to 45' jobs remaining in
a retained customer service centre […] was only made under
pressure from members of staff, the general public and from politicians
and community leaders in Wales. Prior to the announcement of this
retained service, IPS had no plans to have any service in Newport.
PCS were not informed of plans to do this and the Chief Executive
at a meeting with staff on 11 October 2010 only committed to retaining
a passport office 'somewhere in Wales'.[32]
30. The
initial announcement that the Newport Passport Office would close
was followed two days later by the announcement of the retention
of a customer service centre. The piecemeal nature of these announcements
suggests the lack of a co-ordinated strategy regarding the future
of the Identity and Passport Service in Wales. The manner in which
the announcements were made public reflects badly on both the
Home Office and the Identity and Passport Service.
18 Available at http:www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/devolutionguidancenotes.htm Back
19
Q 79 Back
20
Q 66 Back
21
Ev 46 Back
22
Ibid. Back
23
Ev 17 Back
24
Q 63 Back
25
Q 3 Back
26
Q 78 Back
27
Q 2 Back
28
Q 78 Back
29
Q 2 Back
30
Ev 34 Back
31
Q 4 Back
32
Ev 17 Back
| 
