Virginia McVea, chief executive of the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, faces calls to resign after the Office for Statistics Regulation found she used unverified data to support a plan to stop paying rescue officers.
McVea claimed more than 90% of coastguard rescue officers backed the proposal, citing an official survey. The OSR investigation concluded the agency's poll did not sufficiently support that claim.
The regulator determined the data was "misleading". The MCA has since admitted the survey's findings did not substantiate the figure McVea had cited publicly.
The row centres on a proposed pay change for rescue officers. McVea presented the purported 90% support as evidence the workforce backed the controversial plan. The OSR's scrutiny of the underlying polling data revealed the claim lacked adequate statistical foundation.
The findings triggered demands for McVea's resignation from critics who view the use of unverified statistics to justify a significant employment policy change as a breach of public trust. The incident raises questions about governance and data integrity within a public agency responsible for maritime rescue operations.