Is there anything that Capita can’t cock up?
Following on from the courts interpreting fiasco overseen by Crapita Translation and Interpreting (posts passim) and Birmingham City Council’s unusable telephone system (posts passim), the BBC now reports that Capita is making a cock-up of its contract with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to track down 174,000 illegal immigrants in the UK. The contract’s value is believed to be up to £40 mn. and what the firm will be paid depends on how many actually leave the UK permanently.
People living legally in the UK have been incorrectly told to leave the country by Crapita by telephone, email and text message.
Those contacted in these ways included a woman with a UK passport (i.e. a full card-carrying British citizen) and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1 mn. in a UK business.
The standard text message sent to victims by Crapita reads: “Message from the UK Border Agency. You are required to leave the UK as you no longer have the right to remain.” Recipients are then advised to contact the UKBA.
When approached to provide a reason for its cock-ups, Crapita blamed the UKBA, stating some of the information with which it had been provided may have been inaccurate.
However, it seems to me that Crapita has merely applied the skills it has learnt over many years from administering TV Licensing, including the harassment those without a television (and thus those who need no television licence) to suspected illegal immigrants.
Crapita clearly cares little about the cock-ups as long as the profits keep rolling in from the public sector.