Skip to main content

Home Affairs Select Committee releases latest report on the work of the Home Office's Immigration Directorates

Summary
Committee Chairman, Keith Vaz, says immigration system has "left A&E and has entered intensive care"
By EIN
Date of Publication:

The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee released its latest report on the work of the Home Office's Immigration Directorates on Saturday.

You can read the report in PDF format here or HTML format here.

The quote by Keith Vaz MP, Chairman of the Committee, that "[o]ur immigration system has left A&E and has entered intensive care" generated numerous media headlines.

BBC News noted that the report criticised ministers over numerous aspects of the immigration system, including exit checks, missing migrants and the use of a single immigration target.

The Telegraph noted that the report also criticised the Government for creating an immigration backlog of nearly 400,000 cases, which is more than the population of Cardiff.

A press release by the Committee also highlighted that the Government had withheld and delayed releasing reports produced by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, calling this "unacceptable."

Summarising some of the key aspects of the report, Keith Vaz was quoted in the press release as saying:

"Successive governments have spent millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on the botched e-borders programme. Everyone who enters and leaves Britain must be counted in and out. Transport companies have long expressed serious doubts about meeting the Government's timetable for exit checks. Failure to reach full checks within the planned timeframe will give rise to the twin perils of increased security risks and illegal migration."

"It is incomprehensible that thousands of foreign nationals convicted of a criminal offence in the UK are either at large in the community or are not sent back to their own countries. The continued poor record keeping on these foreign national offenders is inexcusable given both the danger these people pose to the public and the huge cost to the taxpayer."

"Following John Vine's recent report, it was estimated that the number of missing migrants in the UK had reached 89,000. Added to the backlog of cases currently being dealt with at the Home Office, which is 304,222, this brings the total number of unresolved immigration cases to 393,222, which is more than the population of Cardiff. In addition to this is the Government's missed immigration target. Our immigration system has left A&E and has entered intensive care."

In response to the report, the Telegraph quoted immigration minister James Brokenshire as saying:

"This Government is building an immigration system which is fair to British citizens and legitimate migrants, and tough on those who flout the law.

"But it will take longer to clear up the mess we inherited. Comprehensive exit checks are a crucial part of our work to build an immigration system that works in the national interest.

"These checks, which will be in place by April 2015, will increase security and target migration abuse.

"We will consider the findings of this report carefully and respond formally in due course."