Twenty top civil servants in the Home Office have been given top of the range iPods to provide them with lessons in leadership.

In a pilot scheme the department has spent almost £9,000 on the gadgets as part of a “constant” way of finding new means to give staff training.

Home Office officials were last night bracing themselves for a barrage of criticism over the purchase which was described by one source as “a wacky idea”.

Others admitted that the disclosure would trigger further ridicule of the department whose leadership was found wanting in a review of its capabilities published last year.

The pilot project, which started recently, allows 20 of the department’s most senior officials to use their iPods to view and listen to short lessons in leadership skills.

Twenty iPods were bought at a cost of £8,800 including long-term service support which allows for updating the software.

They provide officials with three- to five-minute video lessons in leadership provided by management experts.

A Home Office spokeswoman defended the initiative, saying that the department was always seeking the most effective way of providing learning and development for its staff.

She said: “Video iPods preloaded with 50, three- to five-minute leadership lessons, are currently being piloted with a small number of senior civil service staff.”

She defended the Home Office decision to buy the iPods: “As with other modern learning aids, video iPods provide the opportunity for flexible learning and the cost is extremely competitive compared with the rates for classroom training for senior staff.

“The capacity on one video iPod represents the equivalent of three days’ worth of classroom training. In addition, material on the video iPods can be recycled, whereas classroom training cannot.”

A Home Office official said that providing iPods to top staff was a much more economical means of providing leadership skills than sending staff on management courses which can cost £1,000 a day.

“An iPod is portable, convenient and just an extension of e-learning,” the official said.

Asked if the officials were allowed to upload their own material, the official did not answer directly.

“As with all government equipment issued to staff, civil service rules apply. The equipment must be used appropriately and primarily for work-related reasons.”

The Home Office decision to pilot the use of iPods as a way of training staff comes just two months after the England cricket team was able to study footage of the World Cup opposition on their iPods.

Mark Garaway, the team analyst, uploaded packages of information about New Zea-land on to a central base, allowing players to pick and choose the files they believed would be useful.

The disclosure that the Home Office bought iPods for senior staff came after the department published figures showing that bonuses paid to its staff – excluding the Prison Service and Passport service – hit £3.6 million in 2005-06, a 75 per cent increase since 2002.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “It is bad enough that the Home Office is failing on all fronts with serious implications for public safety. It is an insult that such failure has been rewarded in such a way.”

A Home Office spokesman defended the pay bonuses.

“Bonuses reflect individual contributions and are not awarded on the overall performance of the Department or on its perceived reputation. They are also restricted to exceptional performance and achievement. A separate written answer disclosed that the Home Office spent £9 million on rail fares for its 25,000 staff in 2005-06.

Public purse

— Staff at the Rural Payments Agency earnt nearly £250,000 in bonuses last year despite controversy over the late payment of farm subsidies

— Lord Irvine of Lairg, when Lord Chancellor, spent £145,000 redecorating his grace and favour apartment including a £300-a-roll on Pugin-style wallpaper

— A minister had to apologise in 2002 after £460,000 of endangered sapele wood was used for new doors and windows in the £22.6m refurbishment of the Cabinet Office

— Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, made at least 43 journeys abroad in the past three years costing £336,000 Government spending on advertising in 2004 jumped 19 per cent to £189 million, making Whitehall the second biggest advertiser after Procter and Gamble

— Whitehall employs 9,300 staff handling complaints and appeals costing £510 million a year

— Future Prime Ministers will have access to private jets from later this year. The Government is to lease two aircraft at a cost of £107 million over ten years for the use of Downing Street and the Royal Family. One will be a larger jet, such as a Boeing 737, with a bedroom and seating for 70 passengers, and the other a smaller executive jet for short-haul trips

Source: Times database

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