Chief Inspector increasingly frustrated with Home Office publication delay to his small boats report
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, said today that he is becoming increasingly frustrated at the Home Office’s delay in releasing his report into small boats crossings.
Mr Neal submitted the report to the Home Secretary on 24 February 2022 and it has still not been published nearly 5 months later.
The Home Secretary has committed to publishing my reports within 8 weeks of receipt. By that agreement this report should have been published no later than 25 April 2022.
The inspection examined border security and vulnerability at Tug Haven and Western Jet Foil and there is a strong public interest that it is published. I fear that unless it is laid before Parliament this week there will be yet further delay over the summer recess.
The inspection covered the period September 2021 to December 2021 and included visits to the now closed Tug Haven facility and Western Jet Foil at Dover in January 2022.
Giving evidence at a Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on 8 June 2022 David Neal said that he expected the report to be published imminently. He went on to say that out of the 12 reports he had submitted to the Home Secretary since he was appointed in March 2021, only 2 had been released within the 8-week commitment.
I have spoken with senior officials at the Home Office, and I do not think that there is any disagreement with the content of the report or the recommendations. I understand they have some concern about the tone of my foreword, and I suspect this is part of the reason for the delay.
My report made 4 recommendations, all of which were timebound. The failure to publish within the period suggested begins to devalue the purpose of independent oversight, and continued failure to publish such an important report infringes on my independence.
David Neal Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, July 2022