PCS raise staff concerns over far right targeting of Home Office workplaces

Following concerning developments around far right protests and rioting over the weekend we contacted the Home Office on Monday morning. We set out that we understood that there may be plans to target immigration centres, solicitors and potentially immigration offices in the coming days and highlighted our concerns about the safety of our members and customers. We asked for all of Home Office buildings be put at heightened risk and also highlighted specific threats at Home Office location.

While we welcome the Permanent Secretary message to all staff yesterday afternoon recognising that this is a worrying time for many of staff, their families, and the communities in which we live and work and stating that your safety and wellbeing is paramount. We don’t think the message goes far enough in giving the assurances members want.

Many will not trawl through the Security Guidance pages but want firm reassurances and expect their employer to support them when they raise concerns around their safety. There also appears to have been conflicting messages. For example, at The Capital Building in Liverpool yesterday there was a threat that this would be targeted by the far right at 2pm.

Some staff were allowed to leave and work from home, but others were told they would have to go off sick to leave the building or others told they had to stay and could not leave to work from home. It is unhelpful that there is not a clear message for all staff. Thankfully there was not a protest outside the building in the end but that does not mitigate the fact that staff were scared and anxious that they could have been caught up in something but were not permitted to leave early.

PCS have therefore written to the Home Office today asking for the following assurances:

1. Where there is a potential threat that a workplace is to be targeted (or location near to a Home Office building) – whether the intelligence is this is a credible threat or not – staff who can work from home (or work remotely at another safe Home Office location) should be allowed to request this and this should be granted without issue.

2. Where there is a potential threat that a workplace is to be targeted but for operational reasons staff cannot work from home then the business contingency plan should be put in place that ensures staff are moved to work in a location that is not accessible to the public and has the necessary security measures in place. Depending on the threat consideration should also be given to reducing the operation or stopping this altogether to allow staff to safely leave the workplace.

3. Additional security measures are put in place at each Home Office location where there is a credible threat. But as a minimum staff need to be briefed about additional measures that are being put in place at their workplace to give assurance and set out clearly to all staff what they need to do to protect themselves and where they can safely go should a building be targeted or a protest take place outside or nearby.

As per standard practice, we would encourage all members to continue to remove anything, including passes, that will identify you as a Home Office member of staff once you go past the barriers, we are aware that this alone does not fully protect your identity and at this heightened time expect additional local measures to be put in place to protect your safety.

By allowing people to work from home is by far the safest way to keep people safe and away from any trouble. And this is what we demand and expect.

Not wishing to unduly concern staff, and in the highly unlikely event that you are travelling home from work and you suspect you may be getting followed do not proceed to home but go straight to a police station or other safe place and call for help.

While many threats of protests and targeting of buildings will turn out to be false, PCS are determined to ensure the Home Office remain vigilant and do all they can to support staff and their safety as an absolute priority.

Mike Jones Pete Wright

Group Secretary Group Vice President