THE Home Office has been accused of “dodging scrutiny” during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Scottish MP has accused Priti Patel’s department of not responding to official letters and parliamentary questions amid “grave” fears over its handling of the crisis.

Alison Thewliss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central, said the Cabinet secretary must “get a grip of her department” amidst its “woeful” performance. She added: “It’s bad enough that the Home Office evades scrutiny at the best of times, but to do so during a global pandemic is utterly appalling.

“The Home Secretary must get a grip of her department, and she must do it before any more lives are needlessly put at risk.”

Thewliss, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on immigration detention, has submitted a clutch of parliamentary questions and letters to Patel since January, many of which have gone unanswered.

“They include requests for data about the number of EU nationals who have been granted settled or pre-settled status under the new Brexit rules, submissions about whether or not some overseas nationals living here will still have to leave the UK during the pandemic in order to make fresh visa applications and posers on housing for asylum seekers.

They also include some questions about questions, with Thewliss asking when the Home Office will get round to answering submissions made weeks earlier.

Thewliss, who represents one of the most culturally diverse constituencies in Scotland, said the matters are of serious importance to the people seeking help from her.

The criticism comes just days after the former Home Office chief mandarin Sir Philip Rutnam launched an employment tribunal bid against Patel, accusing her of constructive dismissal.

A separate probe into her conduct by the Government itself is investigating claims that she bullied staff in three different departments, breaching the ministerial code. Earlier this week the Guardian newspaper reported that she is likely to be cleared in this matter.

Meanwhile, the Home Office has come under fire for failing to put airport coronavirus screening in place for those returning to the UK from abroad during the pandemic and it has now emerged that there are still 3700 outstanding Windrush cases to be dealt with by the department – two years after Amber Rudd resigned over the scandal.

Thewliss said: “The Home Office has been in a state of disarray for years, but I am gravely concerned about the lack of competence on display during this current national health crisis.

“I wrote to the Home Secretary on March 27 regarding what steps her department is taking to reduce the risk for those being held in immigration detention centres (IRC).

“I followed this up with another letter on April 9, after it emerged that cases of Covid-19 had been reported at Brook House and Yarl’s Wood IRCs. In five weeks, I haven’t had as much as an acknowledgement.

“This shows a shocking lack of empathy and disregard for the health and wellbeing of detainees, and the wider public.

“I have countless parliamentary questions which have either received woefully inadequate responses, or have been ignored altogether.

Thewliss added: “This shambles is indicative of the general state of affairs at the Home Office.”

Last night the Home Office said a wrong address problem had delayed the postal replies and sent an email to Thewliss at around 5.30pm – after The National contacted them.