Migrant crisis mis-management : New official independent report slams Home Office - AGAIN
The last Chief Inspector of migrant management was ‘let go’ for criticising the Home Office
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024
The new Chief Inspector’s report is no better – how long before he is fired too?
Last week the first report from the new ‘Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’ (ICIBI) was finally published. As usual the publication was delayed for many months by the Home Office.
The new Chief Inspector’s report is only slightly less damning than his predecessor’s, which we reported on in August.
“My report identifies improvements I believe the Home Office can and should make, including in relation to strategies and plans, stakeholder engagement, governance, contract compliance and assurance checks, record-keeping and data quality, the provision of purposeful activities, safeguarding vulnerable people, organisational learning, and communication.”
Current Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Oct 2024
Continued devastating indictments of Home Office failures
In short, the new Chief Inspector has very little positive to say about the Home Office’s management of the migrant crisis affecting the whole country. Given that David Bolt still has ‘Interim’ status as the new Independent Chief Inspector, the Facts4EU.Org think tank asks how long he will be allowed to stay, and whether it isn’t the senior Home Office civil servants who should be fired instead.
More excerpts from the 115-page report
“In most cases, the underlying issues, such as poor or non-existent data, are not unique to contingency asylum accommodation and have featured in many previous inspection reports. In the case of assurance checks, previous recommendations have not been implemented. Aside from not holding the accommodation providers effectively to account, this means that “service users” have widely differing experiences of contingency asylum accommodation.
“However, I would like to draw particular attention to one long-standing, systemic issue that this inspection has again exposed.
“Lack of meaningful engagement with stakeholders and poor communication (“one-way”, telling rather than listening) from the Home Office about policies, practices and plans has been a recurring theme of inspections over many years. It is clear that the Home Office still has a long way to go to build trust and confidence in its willingness to be open and honest about its intentions and performance and any reluctance to share information, whether real or perceived, will be seen as evidence that it is not. Timing is all-important, and while there are risks in engaging early, it must avoid any hint of ‘too little, too late’.”
Value for money for the taxpayer is still a dream
Most readers will be aware that billions of pounds from Rachel Reeves’ new budget today have had to be devoted to paying for the migrant crisis. It should therefore be of interest when the new Independent Chief Inspector of Immigration and Borders comments on the ‘value for money’ being achieved for the taxpayer.
“Key findings - The costs of ‘large sites’ versus hotels
“In early 2023, in the interests of speed, Home Office ministers approved the suspension of normal governance processes for the development of alternative sites to hotels for use as contingency asylum accommodation. This included not requiring a costed business case for the Large Sites Accommodation Programme (LSAP) until after spending decisions were made.
“In March 2024, the National Audit Office (NAO) published the report of its investigation into asylum accommodation, which concluded that the Home Office had made progress in its plan to reduce the use of hotels but, in rapidly progressing its plans to establish large sites, had incurred nugatory spending and increased risk, and that, collectively, the early sites (Wethersfield and the Bibby Stockholm) would cost more than the alternative of using hotels. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI’s) findings are entirely in line with this.
“The NAO and the Public Accounts Committee have queried the Home Office’s understanding of the potential costs and value for money (vfm) of large sites. The Home Office had sought to compare the vfm of the large sites and vessels and hotels using ‘per-person-per-night’ costs over the life of the site. However, the per-person-per-night calculations were seriously impacted by fluctuating hotel costs and by the lower-than-anticipated capacity and occupancy at Wethersfield and the Bibby Stockholm barge, due to a number of operational challenges.
“Some of these were outside the Home Office’s ability to predict or control; others could and should hav been foreseen. But a combination of the ministerial requirement to deliver at pace, the absence of effective oversight, and the lack of a clear vision and strategy for asylum accommodation meant that the Home Office did not consider fully the risks and consequences involved in establishing large sites and vessels.”
- Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Oct 2024
Observations
There are so many serious and systemic failures by the Home Office listed in this report it would be impossible to cite them all in our summary. Suffice to say that a great many of these major concerns have been raised in reports going back to 2018. We last highlighted some of these in our report in August.
It is also clear that substantial amounts of public money have been wasted – something which should be of interest to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves when she presents her first budget today.
Our overall conclusion is that heads must roll - and not another Chief Inspector’s. After reading the latest document full of damning indictments of the Home Office, we find it hard to understand why those responsible have neither ‘fallen on their sword’ nor been dismissed.
Only in the public sector could this happen.
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[ Sources: Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 30 Oct 2024
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