The 2023-24 annual report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration was laid in Parliament today. The report covers the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and was sent to the Home Secretary on 8 July 2024.
Commenting on the publication of the annual report, David Bolt - who became Independent Chief Inspector on an interim basis on 3 June 2024 - said:
The annual report published today details ICIBI's activities in 2023-24, highlighting the inspectorate's findings on the efficiency and effectiveness of the Home Office's performance of its immigration, asylum, nationality, and customs functions. My predecessor as Independent Chief Inspector, David Neal, was in post until 20 February 2024, and the 21 inspection reports published during the 2023-24 business year were all submitted to the Home Secretary by him.
The annual report notes that, as in previous years, the Home Office accepted the vast majority of the ICIBI's recommendations - of 104 recommendations, 77 were fully accepted and 21 partially accepted. It is for the Home Office to account for what it has done to implement the recommendations it has accepted. While the ICIBI will continue to monitor this, including by re-inspecting where appropriate, I was encouraged to learn that during the year there had been a renewed focus within the department on tracking progress on implementing recommendations from the ICIBI and others.
My predecessor made no secret of his frustration with the delayed publication of reports, which he felt undermined ICIBI's independence and could reduce the impact of inspections. I share his concerns. Only three of the 21 inspection reports published during the 2023-24 business year met the ministerial commitment to lay reports in Parliament within eight weeks of receipt (subject to both Houses of Parliament being in session), all of which were published only after David Neal's departure when the spotlight was on this issue. Ministers and senior officials have told me that they are determined to improve publication times. The fact that this annual report has been published at the earliest possible opportunity is a good sign, but the true test will be over the remainder of 2024-25 as new reports are submitted.
The events of late February 2024 and the consequent 15-week gap without an Independent Chief Inspector in post made for an especially challenging time for the inspectorate's staff. Individually and collectively, they handled this period of uncertainty extremely well. Publication of this annual report, along with the completion of the inspections that were 'live' at the end of 2023-24 and are now with the Home Secretary, means that everyone can focus on looking ahead. We have a programme of new inspections designed to take the ICIBI up to the end of 2024, which are all now underway, and I am pleased to be able to lead this work until such time as a new Independent Chief Inspector is appointed and can take it over.
