An inspection of Home Office (Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System) intelligence collection capabilities, focusing on its field intelligence work:Call for evidence
The Independent Chief Inspector, David Bolt, invites anyone with knowledge of Home Office (BICS) intelligence collection work to submit evidence for his next inspection.
Launching the ‘call for evidence’, David Bolt said:
In my report ‘An Inspection of the Intelligence Functions of Border Force and Immigration Enforcement’ published in July 2016, I examined the extent to which the Home Office’s Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System (BICS) was truly “intelligence-led”. This current inspection will examine intelligence collection capabilities across BICS, in particular the efficiency and effectiveness of the network of Field Intelligence Officers and other staff responsible for the collection of information (in the UK and overseas) about immigration or customs threats and abuses that is developed into actionable intelligence.
I am interested in what is working well and in what improvements need to be made. To that end, I am inviting organisations and individuals who have experience of liaising with Field Intelligence Officers to write to me with their evidence, including any examples or case studies they are able to share.
This is an area of BICS work that will not be visible to everyone, and elements of it require absolute discretion, but I would also like to hear from anyone who has looked to share information about suspicious immigration or customs activities with the Home Office (BICS), in person, by telephone or by email, regarding how easy or otherwise they found the process and what further contact or feedback they received concerning the information they provided.
Please note that my remit does not extend to investigating or making decisions about individual cases. This remains a Home Office responsibility. If you think an immigration or customs crime has been committed, you should notify the Home Office at: Report an immigration or border crime
Please email the Chief Inspector: chiefinspector@icibi.gov.uk
Please note that submissions may be cited in the final report. It is however ICIBI’s practice not to name individual sources and to anonymise as much as possible any examples or case studies. After publication of the inspection report, your information will not be retained unless you have given your consent for this.
The deadline for this consultation is 30 April 2020. If you will have difficulty providing a response by this date but would like to contribute to this call for evidence, please email the Chief Inspector using the email address above.