ICIBI Annual Report For 2024-25 Published

Today sees the publication of my Annual Report for 2024-25. As the report notes, this was an unusual year, in that it began with a three-month period without a Chief Inspector in post, until I took up the role on an interim basis in June 2024. This affected both what the ICIBI was able to deliver in terms of inspections and its forward programme.

The Annual Report summarises the findings from the individual inspection reports published during 2024-25. Collectively, they showed that many of the issues identified in previous years were still a concern, including poor record-keeping and unreliable data, ineffective oversight and quality assurance of decisions, difficulties with the recruitment, retention and training of staff, backlogs, and ‘clunky’ IT systems. These are long-standing, systemic issues that will not be fixed quickly or piecemeal, and while inspectors saw evidence of hard work, good practice and improvements in some areas, the Home Office needs a clear vision and a concerted and sustained effort to effect real change. Given the department’s many priorities and heavy workloads, and with reducing budgets, this is looking both more difficult to achieve and more essential.

The 2024-25 inspection reports again highlighted that the Home Office needs to work much harder at stakeholder engagement if it is to repair and build trust, being more transparent about its performance, its plans and intentions, and demonstrating a willingness to listen and to respond. Events since have brought this particular challenge into sharp relief.

Delays in publishing inspection reports have been a constant problem since the Home Secretary assumed control of publication in 2014. It was therefore encouraging that five of the six reports published in 2024-25 were published within eight weeks, and I am grateful to ministers and officials for recognising the importance of timely publication to the ICIBI’s credibility and impact. I am hopeful that this will continue. Since the beginning of 2025-26, the two reports that have been published took nine and ten weeks, still much quicker than before. Meanwhile, two further reports are with the Home Secretary for publication, sent on 12 May and 11 June, and therefore already well outside the eight weeks, which is disappointing, albeit publication was not possible during summer recess.

Finally, the Annual Report provides an account of ICIBI’s resources and staffing levels during 2024-25. This notes that, as has been the case for the last decade, ICIBI’s agreed headcount was 30, including the Chief Inspector. As I reported to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee in June, the budget for 2025-26 is such that this number of staff is no longer affordable. This will inevitably mean a reduction in inspection activity. While I understand that the Home Office is having to make significant savings, I hope that it can yet be persuaded that reducing independent scrutiny of its asylum, immigration and borders functions is a false economy.