Damning reports unearth huge failings in UK border protection - key findings

01 March 2024 , 07:14

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A new report raises a string of failings in the UK's border protection (Image: PA Wire)

A sacked former inspector has warned that protection of the UK's borders is "neither effective or efficient".

David Neal, who was dismissed as chief inspector of borders and immigration last week, highlighted a string of failings in a damning series of reports. Among the findings in 13 long-awaited documents were that asylum claims were being rushed in order to clear a mammoth backlog, and hundreds of children vanished between 2021 and 2023.

Mr Neal also voiced alarm about smuggling protections, lack of proper equipment at borders and a "culture of defensiveness" within the Home Office.

In one report, on the use of ePassport gates, Mr Neal said inspectors had found unmanned posts, which he branded "unacceptable". And following the inspection in June last year, he wrote: "On the basis of this inspection, I believe the protection of the border is neither effective nor efficient".

David Neal warned of a string of failures in UK border protection (PA)

Home Secretary James Cleverly sacked Mr Neal last week (Getty Images)

Mr Neal - who was sacked by Home Secretary James Cleverly after voicing alarm about alleged failure to carry out security checks at City Airport in London - found over 150 unaccompanied children were unaccounted for.

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The inspector wrote that 467 cases of children going missing from hotels between July 2021 and September last year. And he said 147 children remained unaccounted for. He also said children may have been housed in venues where stuff hadn't undergone proper background checks. And the report, written last November, said there is "no evidence" of a Home Office strategy to end hotel use.

A further report found Rishi Sunak's rush to clear 90,000 asylum cases "at all costs" was leading to poor decisions. Mr Neal wrote; “Routine quality assurance on interviews and decisions has also been sacrificed for increased productivity. This has the potential to add to the appeals queue as a result of poor-quality refusals, and to further prolong the length of time a claimant’s life is put on hold.”

Meanwhile there were also fears that UK airports were not following procedures to tackle smuggling. Another report a "lack of anti-smuggling capability" at airports should be a "major concern" for Border Force and ministers. This "raises questions as to whether the border is secure from a goods perspective", it said.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This is the border chaos the Tories are trying to hide. Ministers have sat on these devastating reports for months in a bid to hide their utter failure to protect our borders.

"From inadequate security checks at the border to spending billions on asylum hotels and unlawfully housing child refugees in inappropriate accommodation, the Conservative government have broken our immigration system. They have tried to bury this bad news, but the public deserve the truth."

She went on: “The former Chief Inspector of Borders is damning on a failure of leadership, of poor communication from the Home Office and incomplete data. This is a government that has lost its way and on their watch our borders are less secure, and our asylum system is falling apart.”

The Home Office said it had "delivered" on a promise to publish all overdue report as soon as possible, adding: "The publication of these reports that scrutinise the activity of the Home Office and make recommendations for improvement is in and of itself a demonstration of transparency and acceptance of independent scrutiny."

Dave Burke