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Sector: Borders and immigration

Home Office: The cancellation of Bicester Accommodation Centre

“There were two main risks to successful delivery of the Bicester asylum centre: one related to project management, such as delays, higher costs and falling benefits; and the second a change in the demand for such a facility, due to other initiatives. Unfortunately, both of these risks were realised.

“Bicester highlights the need for Departments to identify, for schemes that require planning permission, the impact of planning delays on cost and delivery using a range of scenarios. The Home Office must now move forward and consider how to get best value from the empty site in Bicester.”

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Published:
8 Nov 2007

Identity and Passport Service: Introduction of ePassports

The Identity and Passport Service has successfully completed its project to introduce electronic passports, or ePassports, on time and to the required international standards. However, longer term risks to value for money remain because of the newness of the technology and unknown performance of border control readers in high-volume situations, a National Audit Office report … Read more

Posted 7 February 2007 in: Press Release | ,

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Identity and Passport Service: Introduction of ePassports

“The Identity and Passport Service used sound project management techniques and made effective use of technical specialists to ensure the ePassports project was delivered on time and UK ePassports meet international standards.

“However, the full security benefits of ePassports will not be realised until UK border control readers are fully upgraded, and it is only then that we will know the impact of this new technology on travellers. To ensure future projects deliver value for money, the Identity and Passport Service should aim to improve its engagement with other parts of government, and develop greater in-house expertise to reduce its reliance on external consultants.”

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Published:
7 Feb 2007

Returning Failed Asylum Applicants

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that the Home Office’s Immigration and Nationality Directorate has increased its capacity for removing failed asylum applicants but the number of people removed or returning voluntarily each month is still less than the number of unsuccessful cases (Based on the period April to December … Read more

Posted 19 July 2005 in: Press Release |

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Returning Failed Asylum Applicants

“The integrity of the asylum system depends in part on returning failed applicants to their home country in a timely fashion. The pool of failed applicants is somewhere between 155,000 and 283,500, with the number of removals and voluntary returns in 2004-05 being 12,110. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate has made progress but needs to do a better job to track and manage cases and do more to encourage failed asylum applicants to return home voluntarily. Detaining failed applicants increases the likelihood of successful removal, but it is expensive and more efficient use could be made of such facilities. Improvements in all these areas will be needed if the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is to meet its new target to achieve more removals than there are failed applicants in any given month and to start reducing the backlog.”

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Published:
19 Jul 2005

National Asylum Support Service: The Provision of Accommodation for Asylum Seekers

“Providing suitable accommodation for asylum seekers is one of the most complex and difficult tasks facing the government. The National Asylum Support Service was stretched to the limit when the number of asylum seekers in accommodation reached over 67,000 in March 2003. Although the Service managed to deal with this workload, its contracts did not always provide value for money.

“In order to avoid such difficulties in future, it is important that NASS be able to respond more readily to fluctuations in demand. By transferring more of the risks and responsibilities onto its contractors, the Service will be in a better position to monitor performance and take corrective action when there are changes in the number of asylum seekers requiring accommodation.”

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Published:
7 Jul 2005

National Asylum Support Service: The Provision of Accommodation for Asylum Seekers

Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported today that contracts agreed by the Home Office in 2000-01 to provide accommodation for asylum seekers have not always proved value for money. The Home Office’s National Asylum Support Service provides accommodation for asylum seekers who are destitute, or likely to become destitute, while their … Read more

Posted 7 July 2005 in: Press Release | ,

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Stopping Illegal Imports of Animal Products into Great Britain

Customs has moved quickly to tighten border controls against illegal imports of animal products from outside of the European Union, since taking over this enforcement role in April 2003. As a result, the number of seizures has more than doubled, Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today. He recommended that … Read more

Posted 23 March 2005 in: Press Release | , ,

Improving the Speed and Quality of Asylum Decisions

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the Immigration Appellate Authority have increased the speed of the asylum decision-making process but further improvements can be made, with consequent savings in support and accommodation costs The Immigration and Nationality Directorate also needs to make further improvements to the quality of decision-making, according to a report to Parliament by the … Read more

Posted 23 June 2004 in: Press Release |