Our overview of the Home Office examines its spending and performance. It brings together insights from our reports and other publicly available sources including the Home Office’s annual report and accounts.

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Key takeaways

Financial management

Total spending in 2025-26: £27.7 billion. This was £0.7 billion (3%) more than the previous year. Net expenditure was £20.3 billion (£0.5 billion more than 2024-25).

Income in 2025-26: £7.5 billion. This was £0.2 billion (3%) more than the previous year. The majority coming from visa and immigration fees.

Limited opinion: The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) has issued a limited opinion to the Home Office for nine consecutive years, although its latest report recognised some positive change. The GIAA’s opinion reflects the ongoing need to strengthen the risk management and internal control framework.

Risk and resilience

Principal risks: The Home Office has identified 12 principal risks which it rates as ‘high’ or ‘critical’; during 2025-26. It assessed that one risk had increased in severity and none had decreased.

Public agenda: Between April 2025 and April 2026, the Home Office published four new strategies and three white papers.

Senior leadership: The Home Office appointed eight Executive Committee members in 2025-26, including six directors general and the Permanent Secretary.

Productivity

Efficiency targets: £533 million annual savings expected by 2028-29 under Spending Review 2025 plans; 70% is expected to be delivered through organisational and strategic workforce changes.

Staff numbers: The full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed by the Home Office has increased by 43% since 2020-21. However, in 2025-26, the Home Office employed around 56,000 FTE, which is 850 fewer than in 2024-25, a reduction of less than 2%.

Digital transformation: The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) has rated all three of the Home Office’s digital transformation projects as ‘Amber’ in 2025-26.

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