Update from interim Independent Chief Inspector
Interim Independent Chief Inspector David Bolt provides an update about his priorities in the role and his plans for new inspection topics.
David Bolt
My Priorities
Since returning to the ICIBI as interim Independent Chief Inspector (ICI) on 3 June my priorities have been to complete the inspections and other work that was already in hand but had been paused due to the absence of an ICI; to identify and begin a new set of inspections; and to ensure that the ICIBI’s working relationship with ministers and the Home Office was in good shape.
Work requiring completion
There were five pieces of work that needed to be completed: the Annual Report 2023-24; an inspection of the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority (IECA); another of Contingency Asylum Accommodation (CAA); plus two Country of Origin reports (Rwanda and Georgia). As of now, the Annual Report and the Rwanda COI Report are completed and with the Home Secretary awaiting publication, and the Georgia Report will follow shortly.
In the case of the IECA and CAA inspections, in June I asked the Home Office for further evidence and information, in order to ensure that the inspection reports would be as current as possible when finalised. This material has now been analysed and incorporated. The completed IECA report was sent to the Home Secretary on 7 August. The CAA report was sent to the Home Office for factual accuracy checking on 1 August, and I am hoping to send the completed report to the Home Secretary by the end of this month.
New inspections
In June, I also set the Inspectorate to work on five new inspection topics:
- Fee waivers (including the timeliness and consistency of Home Office decision making)
- Clandestine entry to the UK (including the civil penalties scheme for lorry drivers and hauliers, and the Border Force operation to deter and detect clandestine entrants, particularly at the juxtaposed controls in northern France)
- Age assessments (Home Office processes and practice)
- Contact management (with a focus on reporting requirements and maintaining knowledge of the whereabouts of individuals, including non-detained foreign national offenders, and promotion of voluntary returns)
- General Maritime (looking at the efficiency and effectiveness of Border Force’s assessment, mitigation of and response to risks posed through passengers and goods entering the UK)
I asked the Home Office to provide preliminary evidence in relation to each of these topics. Most of that evidence has been received and reviewed and I am now in a position to proceed with a ‘call for evidence’ for the first two of the above inspections. These will be posted on this website in the next couple of days, along with further details of the scope and timings for each inspection.
The calls for evidence for the remaining inspections will follow shortly.
Stakeholder engagement
Since returning to this role, I have had meetings with a number of the ICIBI’s key external stakeholders. With new work now underway, I am very much looking forward to further stakeholder engagement both one-to-one and through the established ICIBI forums, proposed dates for which will be circulated soon.
Ministers and the Home Office
Finally, a word about ICIBI’s working relationship with ministers and with the Home Office.
I met the previous Home Secretary in June. In July, I met the two new immigration ministers. Each of them confirmed that they value the work of the ICIBI and the insights it offers. I have also corresponded with the new Home Secretary about the planned inspections, and I am looking forward to meeting her in due course to discuss these and other areas of interest.
I have also begun a regular series of meetings with the Directors General from across the Migration and Borders System, and with the Second Permanent Secretary who oversees the System. Again, they have all said that they value the ICIBI’s work and regard it as important that we have an open and honest working relationship, as do I. Thus far, everyone has been extremely supportive in getting the outstanding reports over the line and in getting the new inspections underway, for which I am grateful.
A thank you to the team
The past few months have not been easy for the ICIBI. In the absence of an Independent Chief Inspector, it was not possible to complete the inspections that were ‘live’ when the post became vacant in February or to begin any new inspections. The entire team should take credit for the professional way they have dealt with this period of uncertainty, remaining fully committed to the important work that the ICIBI does.
It is now a case of pressing ahead with that work, so that a new Independent Chief Inspector, when appointed, can hit the ground running.