Senior Tories urge Peloton-riding civil servants to get back to the office

A senior Tory today urged civil servants to get back to the office after months of delays to passports, driving licences and tax returns – as a whistleblower claimed thousands of emails from desperate Afghans went unread due to remote-working officials refusing to do overtime.

Junior mandarin Raphael Marshall said soldiers had to be drafted in for desk work in the Foreign Office when colleagues insisted on putting their ‘work life balance’ first. He also claimed thousands of pleading emails were opened, but not dealt with, just so that Boris Johnson could tell MPs there were no unread messages.

In addition, he accused senior civil servants of refusing to come into the office because they were working from home, saying it hindered the rescue effort further. ‘In my opinion, staffing shortages were exacerbated by some staff working from home, which hampered communication,’ Mr Marshall wrote in his statement to MPs.

In recent months there has been a deluge of complaints about the worsening quality of public services, including delays in the processing of essential documents such as passports and driving licences. A large number of civil servants are still working from home despite the Government encouraging workers to return.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has been accused of frustrating ministers. One insider said in October politicians are ‘lucky’ if 20 per cent of civil servants are in the office at any time. Sarah Healey, the department’s permanent secretary also said she prefers working from home as it gives her more time to spend on her high-end Peloton exercise bike. 

Today a senior Tory MP said: ‘I think people do need to come back into work and start associating with their colleagues again. The Government could be firmer on it. Boris has said people should be back in the office but there should be a more concerted effort. Frankly, they should be told to return to the office.’

Here are some of the services that have born the brunt of delays this year.

In recent months there has been a series of complaints about the worsening quality of public services, including delays in the processing of essential documents such as passports and driving licences. A large number of civil servants are still working from home despite the Government encouraging workers to return. Pictured: An empty road in Westminster

DRIVING LICENCES

Rolling strike action and social-distancing rules have seen some drivers complaining of ten-week turnarounds for new licences in recent months. 

There has been a series of strikes after staff complained about returning to the office following concerns about the lack of social distancing.

Industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services Union added almost half a million items to the backlog, which means there are about 1.4 million licences waiting to be processed as of September.

Student Mia McFadden, 17, from Southbourne, Dorset, saved up and bought herself a Fiat 500 from her wages at McDonald’s.

But she claimed she still couldn’t drive because she faced a ten-week wait getting her provisional licence due to Covid delays and then found herself at the back of a three-month queue for driving lessons.

‘Now I can’t find an instructor because there is a massive backlog in people taking their test,’ she said. ‘I won’t be able to have any lessons until next year.’

There are also long delays for learner drivers who want to take a theory test. Some living in Aberdeen have even made the 1,000-mile return trip to take it in London because of the delays in Scotland. Both practical driving tests and theory tests were suspended from January due to restrictions, but resumed in July, creating a massive backlog.

The DVLA has been contacted for comment. 

Dominic Raab today insisted he did 'everything he could' to respond to the Afghanistan collapse after a whistleblower gave a devastating insight into the evacuation efforts

Dominic Raab today insisted he did ‘everything he could’ to respond to the Afghanistan collapse after a whistleblower gave a devastating insight into the evacuation efforts

PASSPORTS

Britons have, over recent months, been warned they may face waits of up to 10 weeks for their new documents to be processed – more than triple that of the clearing period pre-coronavirus.

The situation has been worsened by Passport Office courier firm TNT announcing delays after saying it had been swamped by post-Covid applications. 

Top mandarin: WFH gives me more time to spend on my Peloton  

Sarah Healey, the permanent secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said she only wants her staff to go into the office two days a week so women aren’t dominated by men and she can continue using her  high-end Peloton bike.

Sarah Healey (pictured) has said she only wants her staff to go into the office two days a week so women aren't dominated by men and she can continue using her Peloton bike

Sarah Healey (pictured) has said she only wants her staff to go into the office two days a week so women aren’t dominated by men and she can continue using her Peloton bike

She said meetings would still be held over Zoom, even for those working in the office, in a bid to stop male employees asserting themselves over their female colleagues. 

The mother of three spoke out at the London Tech Week conference in September, the Telegraph reported. 

She said: ‘I have a Peloton and I can just get on my bike whenever I have a teeny bit of time. 

‘That has been a huge benefit to my well-being – the lack of travelling time eating into my day.’ 

DCMS has been accused of frustrating ministers. One insider said in October politicians are ‘lucky’ if 20 per cent of civil servants are in the office at any time.

Some people have been forced to wait more than three months.

Karen Hyman, 47, applied for a renewal of her six-year-old son’s passport on July 23 for a family holiday with her partner and other son in late August.

But when it did not arrive in time she was forced to cancel the whole trip. ‘My boys are devastated and we have lost over £3,000,’ she said.

MailOnline has contacted the Home Office for comment. 

CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKS

Jobseekers have complained of weeks-long wait times due to chronic delays at the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which carries out vetting for employers.

Roles in the police, prison service, care sector and schools require a criminal record check.

The DBS, which carries out the checks for employers, recently admitted home working had ‘tested our ability’ to meet a surge in demand during the coronavirus lockdowns. It said basic checks were taking twice as long to process as usual last year.

Some teachers or care workers, who need enhanced vetting because they work with children, say waits have forced them to go on Universal Credit.

Sports lecturer David Francis, 35, was forced to find temporary work in a warehouse when it took more than three weeks for his DBS check to come through after he moved colleges.

‘I have got bills and rent to pay,’ he said. ‘I even had to extend my overdraft.’ Last night the Home Office declined to comment on DBS checks.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Frustrated architects firms have been complaining that projects have been delayed by up to six months due to chaos in council-run planning departments across the UK.

Mortgage companies also complain of delays in processing local land searches – a requirement for most lenders.

Estate agents and property solicitors said the delay is causing home sales to fall through – while the majority of council staff continue to work from home.

Fifty-seven per cent of councils reported they were not ‘operating normally’, according to a Local Government Association workforce survey.

David Renard, Local Government Association planning spokesman, called for council planning departments to be given greater resources. He said. ‘While in some cases delays may be unavoidable, councils are doing all they can to address these.’

The Prime Minister today claimed that Op Pitting - the evacuation carried out by the military - was 'one of the outstanding military achievements of the last 50 years or more'

The Prime Minister today claimed that Op Pitting – the evacuation carried out by the military – was ‘one of the outstanding military achievements of the last 50 years or more’

TAX

Taxpayers owed thousands of pounds in rebates have been warned they will not receive the money until next February.

HMRC’s latest figures reveal that this year just over a third (35.5 per cent) of 4.5 million items of post have been cleared within its target of 15 days but recently agreed that all employees can work at home at least two days a week and offered its staff a 13 per cent pay rise over the next three years.

One irate taxpayer said: ‘I just called HMRC because they took emergency tax. 

‘I filled the relevant forms five weeks ago and today they told me I have to wait until January or February.’

A spokesman for HMRC last night denied that the rebate delays have anything to do with staff working from home.

And Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive of HMRC, said: ‘We have seen improvements in our customer service in the first quarter of 2021-22 and we have reduced the average time taken to answer calls by more than four minutes. 

‘Working from home is not a factor – HMRC colleagues have been working effectively for the last 18 months wherever they are, including the design, implementation and administration of the COVID financial support schemes, which have been our priority.

‘But I do understand the frustrations of customers and agents, and I am sorry that we can’t get to everyone more quickly. I appeal for your patience and thank you for bearing with us as we get back on track.’

Top Foreign Office mandarin tells shocked MPs he stayed on holiday for ELEVEN DAYS even AFTER Kabul fell as he tries to defend Afghan evacuation shambles after whistleblower revealed WFH civil servants refused to do overtime while allies were left to die 

The Foreign Office’s top mandarin today told shocked MPs he stayed on holiday for 11 days after the dramatic fall of Kabul – as he admitted there are ‘lessons to be learned’ from the Afghanistan debacle.

During an extraordinary committee hearing, Sir Philip Barton revealed that he was on leave from August 9 and did not return until August 26, nearly two weeks after the government collapsed and handed the Taliban control.

He refused to say where he was on holiday, but disclosed that it was partly in the UK and partly abroad – trying to play down the impact on the crisis response by saying he had put cover in place and at the time he left there was ‘no inevitability’ about the situation spiralling.

‘If I had my time again I would have come back from my leave earlier,’ Sir Philip said. Furious MPs questioned when he had booked the trip – and why he was allowed to be off at the same time as Dominic Raab, as well as the national security adviser and the head of the Home Office.

The £185,000-a-year mandarin – who has a pension worth £1.7m – said the evacuation from Kabul following the collapse of the government was ‘one of the most complex and challenging crises we’ve had to face’.

But he conceded there were ways it could have been handled better and he ‘wished’ the operation had been able to get more vulnerable people out.

Sir Philip, senior colleagues and former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab are all scrambling to fend off damning testimony from a junior civil servant who claims that at times they had been the only person dealing with thousands of emails from those desperate to flee the Taliban.

Sir Philip Barton

Tory MP Alicia Kearns

During an extraordinary committee hearing, Sir Philip Barton (left) revealed that he did not return from a break until August 26, nearly two weeks after the government collapsed and handed the Taliban control. He was slammed by MPs including Tory Alicia Kearns (right)

It came as junior mandarin Raphael Marshall today laid bare the extraordinary shambles at the heart of the Foreign Office after Kabul fell to the Taliban.

With the militants in control of the country, thousands of desperate Afghan workers and their families appealed to Britain to be airlifted to safety.

Yet the junior diplomat was, at times, the only person left dealing with hundreds upon hundreds of emails, almost all of them pleading for help.

In a detailed written statement to the Commons foreign affairs committee, published today, Mr Marshall – described by the committee as a ‘whistleblower’ – outlines how chronic staffing shortages at the department were compounded by colleagues working from home, refusing to work weekends and sticking to the culture of eight-hour shifts ‘despite the urgency’ of the situation.

The junior diplomat, who has now left the Foreign Office, also suggests the evacuation effort was hampered by delays in decision making by the then foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.

Britain's former foreign secretary Dominic Raab answers questions on Government policy on Afghanistan during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in September

Britain’s former foreign secretary Dominic Raab answers questions on Government policy on Afghanistan during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in September

Here, John Stevens details Mr Marshall’s damning claims about the performance of his former department during one of the worst crises in its recent history.

SO MANY LEFT BEHIND TO BE MURDERED BY THE TALIBAN

Mr Marshall, a 25-year-old graduate working at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in Whitehall, was assigned to the Special Cases team. 

This was separate from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme that handled the cases of Afghans who worked directly for the UK Government, such as translators. 

Instead, the Special Cases dealt with the claims of those at risk because of their links with the UK – including Afghan soldiers, politicians, journalists, civil servants, activists, aid workers and judges, as well as guards and others who worked through sub-contractors.

In his statement, he estimates that ‘between 75,000 and 150,000 people (including dependants) applied for evacuation’ via the Special Cases team but concludes, damningly, that fewer than five per cent ‘have received any assistance’. 

He writes: ‘It is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the Taliban.’

Taliban fighters pose for a photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19 earlier this year

Taliban fighters pose for a photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19 earlier this year

5,000 UNREAD MESSAGES

The whistleblower says that many of the emails to the Special Cases inbox were unread, with around 5,000 unread at any one time at the peak of the crisis. 

He says many of those pleading for help detailed ‘grave human rights abuses’ by the Taliban, including ‘murders, rapes and burning of homes’. 

He says that while the emails received an automated response that they had been ‘logged’, this was ‘usually false’.

A SINGLE CIVIL SERVANT TO READ THOUSANDS OF EMAILS

On the afternoon of Saturday August 21 –halfway through the two-week effort to rescue Afghans from Kabul – Mr Marshall reveals he ‘was the only person monitoring and processing emails in the Afghan Special Cases inbox’. 

He adds: ‘No emails from after early Friday afternoon had been read at that point. The number of unread emails was already in the high thousands, I believe above 5,000, and increasing constantly. 

Around four other people had been rostered to work on the Special Cases team but had not come on shift… I had not originally been rostered but had decided that I was morally obliged to put myself down because I saw the team was not fully staffed. 

If I had not, it is possible there would have been no one to process the emails at all.’

He continues: ‘These emails were desperate and urgent. I was struck by many titles including phrases such as ‘please save my children’.’

At the point where he was the only person answering emails, British Paratroopers were desperately trying to hold the line at Kabul airport and it was feared the rescue operation could collapse. 

The airport was besieged by thousands trying to escape that weekend.

Afghan people sit inside a US military aircraft preparing to leave Afghanistan via the military airport in Kabul in August

Afghan people sit inside a US military aircraft preparing to leave Afghanistan via the military airport in Kabul in August

Afghans struggle to reach the foreign forces to show their credentials to flee the country outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul in August

Afghans struggle to reach the foreign forces to show their credentials to flee the country outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul in August

WORKING FROM HOME AND AN 8-HOUR CULTURE

‘In my opinion, staffing shortages were exacerbated by some staff working from home, which hampered communication,’ writes Mr Marshall. 

‘This was on occasion significant in a context where policy was poorly defined and the situation unclear.’

He believes that on two days in the final week of the evacuation, no one was allocated to work the night shift on his team dealing with the requests for help. 

He writes: ‘Despite the urgency of the situation, the default expectation remained that FCDO staff would only work eight hours a day, five days a week. 

Staff were only asked to work shifts for which they volunteered. This likely resulted in a lack of night shifts and limited cover over the weekend because these shifts were less popular… I believe this reflects a deliberate drive by the FCDO to prioritise ‘work-life balance’.’ 

He says staff who worked more than their designated hours ‘were often encouraged to leave by colleagues’ and senior leaders suggested working more than eight hours was ‘inefficient’.

ONE COMPUTER SHARED BY EIGHT SOLDIERS

Soldiers were drafted in to work in the Foreign Office in London processing appeals for help as the department struggled, despite employing more than 17,000 diplomats worldwide. 

They were not given passwords so for almost a day ‘the soldiers worked with one computer shared between roughly eight people’. 

‘This obviously considerably reduced their efficiency and speed,’ says Mr Marshall.

Taliban forces patrol a runway a day after US troops withdrew from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August

Taliban forces patrol a runway a day after US troops withdrew from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August

MISLEADING CLAIMS OVER EMAIL RESPONSES

For one week ’emails were processed by marking them with a flag once read but were not entered’ into the Foreign Office’s database of people requesting to be evacuated. 

The whistleblower states his opinion that ‘the purpose of this was to allow the Prime Minister and the then foreign secretary to inform MPs that there were no unread emails’. 

All incoming messages ‘received an automatic response that the request for assistance had been ‘logged’,’ adds Mr Marshall. 

‘This was usually false. In thousands of cases emails were not even read.’

BBC CHEFS HAD PRIORITY OVER INTERPRETERS

The Foreign Office’s ‘process for selecting which Afghan applicants to evacuate was not credible’, according to Mr Marshall. 

‘Usually little distinction was observed between applicants who explained a specific risk, for example that they had received specific death threats… and between applicants who merely referred to the general risk posed by the Taliban coming to power.’ 

He adds: ‘Some decisions made are likely impossible to justify. For example, I understand that we evacuated the BBC’s Afghan cooking and cleaning staff. 

Although I wish these people the best, it is impossible to justify why they were prioritised above interpreters or others at much greater risk and had performed much greater services to the UK.’

At least 13 people including children were killed in a blast outside the airport on August 26

At least 13 people including children were killed in a blast outside the airport on August 26

LACK OF CO-ORDINATION WITH MoD OR THE USA

Mr Marshall writes that there was little or no effective consultation between the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, with one colleague remarking that the failure to co-ordinate threatened to undermine the whole rescue operation. 

There was also no co-ordination with the US authorities, which he says may have led to ‘duplicate visas’. 

Attempts to share evacuation lists were opposed by one official suggesting it may have been a breach of European data protection laws and data security rights. 

He says an email he wrote warning people might die unless things improved was criticised for being ‘shrill’.

Pen’s animal mission DID put soldiers at risk 

British soldiers were put at risk by the decision to evacuate animals from Afghanistan, the whistleblower claims.

Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine, persuaded the Government to help him evacuate 170 dogs and cats from Kabul.

The animals had been looked after by his charity Nowzad.

But Raphael Marshall told MPs he agreed with the military that it was wrong that Mr Farthing’s charity was given priority when translators were being left to their fate.

In his statement, the former Foreign Office civil servant says: ‘There was no reason to believe the Taliban would target animal rights charities. There was therefore no justification for concluding Nowzad’s staff were at significant risk.

‘By contrast many others would inevitably be left behind who were at risk of murder. Similarly the protection of domestic animals was not a UK war aim in Afghanistan.’

Former Royal Marine Paul 'Pen' Farthing persuaded the Government to help him evacuate 170 dogs and cats from Kabul

Former Royal Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing persuaded the Government to help him evacuate 170 dogs and cats from Kabul

Mr Marshall adds: ‘There was a direct trade-off between transporting Nowzad’s animals and evacuating British nationals and Afghan evacuees, including Afghans who had served with British soldiers. 

This is because soldiers tasked with escorting the dogs through the crowd and into the airport would have otherwise been deployed to support the evacuation of British nationals or Afghans prioritised for evacuation.

‘The limited number of British soldiers available to help UK visa holders and British citizens from the crowd into the airport was an important limiting factor on our ability to evacuate people.’

He says: ‘I wish the staff of Nowzad all the best in their new life in the UK but they were not eligible for evacuation, let alone for exceptional assistance which prioritised them above British Army interpreters. 

I believe British soldiers were put at risk in order to bring Nowzad’s animals into the airport.’

Mr Marshall goes on to say an American animal charity is still operating in Kabul and has not been subject to any mistreatment by the Taliban.

‘This vindicates the MoD and FCDO’s belief that neither Nowzad’s animals nor its staff were at risk from the Taliban,’ he writes. 

‘Her Majesty’s Government transported animals which were not at risk of harm at the direct expense of evacuating British nationals and people at risk of imminent murder, including interpreters.’ 

Raab ‘delayed rescue over email formatting’ 

Dominic Raab needlessly delayed a decision on evacuations from Afghanistan as he complained about the formatting of an email, the whistleblower claims.

Former civil servant Raphael Marshall claims the then foreign secretary ‘took several hours’ to approve the cases of people desperate to be airlifted despite the race against time.

On August 25, three days before a final mercy flight left Kabul, Mr Raab was sent a list of potential evacuees including Afghan soldiers and women’s rights activists.

But according to Mr Marshall’s evidence, the minister said he needed ‘all the cases set out in a well-presented table to make decisions’. 

Stowaways climbing the plane trying to leave Kabul after Taliban takeover

Stowaways climbing the plane trying to leave Kabul after Taliban takeover

‘For the Foreign Secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation,’ the whistleblower writes.

Cases affected included a senior Afghan soldier and his family. ‘I believe this family did not succeed in entering the airport,’ writes Mr Marshall. 

He says submissions detailing ‘exceptional cases’ were sent to the Foreign Secretary for approval in the final days of the airlift. 

‘It took several hours for the Foreign Secretary to engage on any of these notes.

‘In the circumstances, I am not sure why. The foreign secretary then replied through his private office to say that he could not decide on individual cases and he would need all the cases set out in a well-presented table to make decisions. 

‘I understand that he or his private office had commented that as a lawyer he could not take information without the full facts in a table.

‘We therefore reformatted the table and sent it back to the foreign secretary.’

Mr Marshall adds: ‘In my opinion, for the foreign secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation… there was very little time left for anyone to enter the airport, therefore the foreign secretary’s choice to cause a delay suggests he did not understand the desperate situation at Kabul Airport.’

He continues: ‘In my opinion, it is likely that the decisions the foreign secretary initially declined to make were less ambiguous than decisions made by relatively junior FCDO employees.’

A source close to Mr Raab last night said: ‘We evacuated over 500 special cases, including journalists, women’s rights activists and extremely vulnerable individuals. 

The major practical challenge to evacuation was verifying identity and securing safe passage to the airport, not the speed of decision making. At all times, the team’s focus was on saving lives.’

Mr Raab was ousted as foreign secretary in the September cabinet reshuffle following widespread criticism of his handling of the Afghanistan crisis.

The Daily Mail revealed that while on holiday, he failed to make a crucial phone call to the Afghan foreign minister to seek help airlifting translators out of the country. 

But the minister, who was at a beach resort in Crete, did not make the call and it was delegated to a junior minister – but it never took place.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk