Home Office progress to protect vulnerable people in removal centres ‘too slow’, says immigration watchdog

Chief Inspector David Bolt says he is ‘disappointed’ at ministers’ lack of action to improve controversial policy

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) said he was disappointed at the Home Office's lack of action to improve a policy (AFP/Getty)

Efforts by the Home Office to ensure vulnerable people are not detained in removal centres is “undoubtedly too slow”, the government’s immigration watchdog has said.

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) said he was “disappointed” at the department’s lack of action to improve a policy that is designed to reduce the number of “at risk” people in detention, but has been widely criticised for failing to do so.

The long-awaited report, which the Home Office received last July but was not published until Wednesday — a delay that has attracted criticism — was commissioned by then-home secretary Sajid Javid in 2018 to examine “whether and how the Adults at Risk (AAR) policy is making a difference”.