The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration last Thursday released no less than six new reports. They are as follows:
• • A re-inspection of the handling of Tier 4 sponsor licence compliance July 2016.
• An inspection into failed right of abode applications and referral for enforcement action.
• An inspection of Border Force operations at Coventry and Langley postal hubs March to July 2016.
The reports on the 'hostile environment' and foreign criminals received media coverage in the Guardian, BBC News, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
According to BBC News, the report on the 'hostile environment' questioned whether a measure revoking driving licences of illegal migrants is working, because so few are handed in.
The Chief Inspector said in the report that the low number of licences surrendered in 2015/16 "undermines the intended two-fold impact of revocation: stopping illegal migrants from being able to drive lawfully, and from using a driving licence to access other benefits and services."
The Guardian focused on the report's findings that hundreds of people have been wrongly refused bank accounts or had their driving licences revoked.
According to the Guardian, the Chief Inspector found that there was insufficient hard evidence to determine whether the 'hostile environment' measures were achieving what the Government intended, and said a proper evaluation was needed, not least because of concerns about the potential damage of the measures to individuals and communities.
The report stated: "justification for extending the 'hostile environment' measures is based on the conviction that they are 'right' in principle, and enjoy broad public support, rather than on any evidence that the measures already introduced are working or needed to be strengthened, since no targets were set for the original measures and little had been done to evaluate them. … In the absence of even any 'soft' indicators of impact on, for example, voluntary returns, the Home Office lays itself open to criticism about the breadth of new legislation and the costs versus benefits. It is also harder for it to answer concerns about the potential damage to communities and to individuals. This puts a greater premium on the Home Office getting its contribution right, by ensuring that partnerships are managed effectively, that the data shared is accurate and up to date, and that it is seen to make full use of any new information that is generated about individuals who are in the UK illegally."
The Telegraph looked at the report on arrests of foreign national offenders and said it found foreign criminals in Britain illegally are avoiding deportation because police are not carrying out immigration checks.
The Chief Inspector stated in the report: "Not all foreign nationals arrested by the police are identified as such. Some misrepresent themselves as UK citizens or as nationals of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA), with the hope of evading immigration checks. Meanwhile, police are less likely to refer genuine EEA nationals for an immigration check, assuming that they are free from immigration control in the UK."
The report found regional variations, with London police believed to be identifying nearly all arrested or encountered foreign nationals, while immigration staff said it was likely that West Midlands police were not identifying all foreign nationals and referring them for status checks.