Publishing his Inspection Plan, David Bolt said:
On 10 April 2020, the Home Secretary announced that my term as Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration had been extended until 31 October 2020.
When I published my last Inspection Plan, in April 2019, it was on the understanding that my five-year appointment as Independent Chief Inspector was due to end in April 2020. Since deciding what to inspect and when is one of the most important aspects of the Chief Inspector's independence, the Plan was for 2019-20 only. Following my extension, I have now added a number of inspections that I intend to begin between now and October 2020, although it is likely to fall to my successor to complete and report on some of these.
The updated Plan for the first half of 2020-21 is informed by the findings and recommendations from previous inspections. It also reflects my discussions with Ministers, officials, and external stakeholders.
For completeness, the Plan includes completed reports that are with the Home Secretary awaiting publication and inspections that were started in 2019-20 and will report over the next few months.
In line with the UK Borders Act 2007, it is also open to the Home Secretary during the course of the year to commission me to carry out an inspection on any topic.
The Plan comes with three important caveats.
Firstly, in creating the Plan, I have tried to balance maintaining ICIBI as a functioning inspectorate with not over-burdening the Home Office and others at what is an extremely challenging time for everyone. ICIBI and the Home Office will keep the latter's capacity to assist with particular inspections under review, along with inspection timescales. In the present circumstances, we need to feel our way forward in terms of what is achievable, rather than make plans and commitments that have to be regularly revised.
Regarding the inspection process, some fieldwork will not be possible until things return to normal, but in the meantime we are looking to make more use of video conferencing and will focus more on desk-based research and examination of published material, guidance, case records and data. As ever, the inspectorate will also actively seek input from external stakeholders, through our regular contacts and calls for evidence posted on the website.
Secondly, the Plan takes account of ICIBI's capacity. Throughout 2019-20, ICIBI operated with roughly half the number of inspectors it should have. Following a successful recruitment campaign at the end of 2019, I expect to be fully up to strength by early May 2020 (for the first time in two years). As a result, by the second half of 2020-21, ICIBI should be in a good position to press ahead with a full programme of inspections.
Thirdly, the Plan does not include any inspections that follow up specifically on Wendy Williams' Windrush Lessons Learned Review. Many of the underlying themes from Wendy's report have been examined in previous ICIBI inspections and some will be explored further in the inspections that are planned. However, the Home Office has indicated that it will respond formally to Wendy's findings and recommendations in six months, at which stage my successor will wish to consider what this means for the ICIBI's workplan for the remainder of 2020-21 and beyond. In the meantime, I have indicated to the Home Secretary that ICIBI is ready to take on any related work that she may wish to commission.
David Bolt
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration
April 2020
