UK coastguard chief faces resignation calls after regulator finds 90% pay claim unverified

Court ruling classified rescue officers as workers entitled to minimum wage

Virginia McVea, the chief executive of the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), is facing calls to resign after the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) found that her claim that more than 90% of coastguard rescue officers (CROs) supported stripping them of their pay was not substantiated by the agency’s own survey data.

The OSR’s director general, Ed Humpherson, wrote to McVea this week saying: “Neither of the surveys [cited] asked CROs directly about their support for the proposed volunteer model, so do not provide evidence relating to the reported claims. [The] MCA has been unable to provide any further evidence to underpin the reported claims.” The agency has acknowledged that its poll did not sufficiently back up the claim.

Nicola Savage, a national officer for the GMB union, which represents CROs, said: “If Ms McVea is unable to produce the reports she refers to, we would consider this as a deliberate attempt to mislead. If this is the case, she should resign – as hundreds of coastguards have already asked her to do.” The GMB said nearly 600 CROs had backed its vote of no confidence in McVea.

MP Joe Robertson, one of several MPs who have campaigned on CROs’ behalf, accused McVea of misleading MPs and coastguards during three separate meetings at which he said she cited the 90% figure. He called on her to “do the right thing and apologise for misleading MPs, CROs and the public”, adding: “Please also give a written account of how you came to repeat this false line over and over again and why you still have not published the surveys which you promised to MPs in our meeting on 24 June.”

The MCA’s plan to stop paying CROs was a reaction to a court defeat. A judge had affirmed that while CROs volunteered for service, they were classed as workers with the right to minimum wage and holiday pay because they were paid for their time, among other factors. Rather than accept that status, the MCA sought to reclassify them as unpaid volunteers. The plan drew heavy criticism from MPs, CROs, and coastal communities.

Seeking to defend the plan, McVea cited the 90% figure, but MPs told the Guardian in July they felt misled by her. Leaked results of an MCA survey, which the Guardian revealed in July, showed CROs had actually been asked how volunteer and worker models would affect their availability. The results suggested the agency had counted people who said they would become less able to respond to calls if they were volunteers, as well as those who replied “other”, among those in support of the volunteer model.

The MCA said at the time: “Survey findings were considered alongside a range of operational, legal and practical factors.” But it declined to say how.

Maritime minister Keir Mather ultimately scrapped the plan as he responded to near-universal criticism. CROs are still waiting to learn what system will be adopted, but it is understood the option of not paying coastguards is no longer on the table. The MCA has been approached for comment.