Pagliari to tackle immigration HR challenge

Paul Pagliari, HR director at Scottish Water, has been headhunted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) to lead its HR operations.

Pagliari said he was looking for a new challenge, as the HR team at Scottish Water is on track to achieve all it had set out to following a merger of water authorities in Scotland in 2002. Headcount has been reduced from 5,600 to 3,700 – without industrial action – and there is a single set of terms and conditions.

Pagliari, who will join the IND next month, said: “I was headhunted, but I was also already aware of the opening. With 15,000 full-time equivalent staff, there is an enormous amount to do.”

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The IND has been the focus of much media attention in recent years. In December 2003, it was criticised by the National Audit Office for a backlog of 63,700 asylum applications. The NAO said a number of HR-related problems contributed to this backlog, including difficulties in recruiting caseworkers.

Pagliari said he could not comment on the particular HR challenge at the IND until he knew more about the organisation, but he said that the media’s coverage of its performance had been one-sided.