Guidance

Independent members recruitment and onboarding (accessible)

Updated 7 April 2026

Version 2.0

Independent panel member recruitment and onboarding guidance.

About this guidance

This guidance outlines the onboarding process for independent panel members within Case Progression Panels (CPPs). This guidance can be a point of reference for CPP members and chairs as well as those Home Office staff that work in detained casework and are in receipt of CPP recommendations.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email the Case Progression Panel team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance Rules and Forms team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 2.0
• published for Home Office staff on 01 April 2026

Changes from last version of this guidance

The changes made to this guidance include:

• updated names of current and newly recruited independent panel members
• updates to role and specifications, including the media advert
• an update to post recruitment actions
• a general update to wording throughout document

Background

Case Progression Panels (CPPs) are designed to safeguard against excessive lengths of detention, provide an independent assessment of case progression, and reduce the potential for unlawful detention litigation.

CPPs were introduced in February 2017 by Immigration Enforcement in response to recommendations made in Stephen Shaw’s 2016 review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons.

CPPs provide a second line assurance function by reviewing the appropriateness of ongoing detention for all individuals detained at 3-month intervals. They drive case progression and casework diligence to:

• effect departure from the UK whether by administrative removal, voluntary return or deportation
• provide additional oversight for the identification and management of the detention of potentially vulnerable people

For further details please refer to the full CPP guidance. 

In July 2018, Stephen Shaw published his follow up report which contained further recommendations to reform immigration detention processes and safeguards. A key recommendation within this review was to establish an external independent presence within CPPs to make recommendations alongside Home Office Officials. A report into immigration detention by The Home Affairs Committee in March 2019 supported Shaw’s recommendation for independent oversight.  

A 6‑month pilot, commissioned in May 2020 following an initial trial, demonstrated that independent presence in CPPs improved discussion quality and scrutiny, supporting its adoption as business as usual.

Whilst independent presence supports recommendations from both the Shaw and Home Affairs Committee reviews, it also provides increased transparency and oversight to Home Office detention decisions, including Foreign National Offender cases and those identified as Adults at Risk. Independent panel members have the same role as any CPP member - contributing to discussions on individual cases and recommending whether continued detention remains appropriate. They also highlight significant discussion points to inform the continued development of the process – recording and reporting these back following CPPs.

This guidance details some of the background to the recruitment process and provides guidance on how to recruit independent panel members.

Recruiting additional or new members

The Home Office Public Appointment team have confirmed that the recruitment of independent panel members of CPPs is appropriate through the public appointments process on the basis that the CPPs are:

• non-statutory panels with a majority membership of Home Office officials sitting in an ex officio capacity
• there is a minority of ‘independent panel members’ on each panel and the panels are carrying out an internal operational role rather than exercising executive powers on behalf of the department or providing independent advice to ministers

Public appointments usually last 3 years and, whilst members can be asked to return, it is recommended that new members are appointed once current terms come to an end to avoid membership becoming stagnant. The full list of current independent CPP members can be found in the Current panel members section.

The recruitment and selection process is key to ensuring the success of independent panel membership of CPPs. The Case Progression Panel team, working with the Public Appointments team, will be responsible for any ongoing recruitment of independent panel members.

An assessment should be made as to whether candidates have the right measure of knowledge and experience to help deliver the key objective of bringing true independence.

If successful, candidates will need to go through a vetting process and have appropriate security clearance.

Anyone who applies to work in His Majesty’s Government (HMG) is vetted to a minimum of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes identity, employment history, right to work, and unspent criminal record checks.

In addition, there are 3 separate levels of security clearance required to work in certain areas of HMG depending on the nature of the role. 

The level of security required for CPP appointments is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC). This is required for those working at high-risk sites, or in close proximity of public figures.

Full details can be found in the HMG Personnel Security Controls document on GOV.UK

Recruitment process – step by step

1. The Home Office Public Appointments team should be contacted at the commencement of any potential campaign providing the details and background for the recruitment required. This team will provide further advice on the next steps.

2. Once contact has been established with the Home Office Public Appointments team, the Cabinet Office Public Bodies team may need to be contacted to advise them of the intention to hold a Public Appointment Recruitment campaign and to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.

3. Once the campaign has been agreed, the Public Appointments team should be provided with a job advert and job description, see:

• Independent panel member: role description
• Independent panel member: personal specification
• Independent panel member: media advert

4. Timeframe and next steps in the recruitment process should be confirmed with the Public Appointment team, as they will be responsible for advertising the positions.

5. Once recruitment has been completed, including sifting and interviewing applicants, appointments will be confirmed by the Public Appointment team following ministerial approval. The Public Appointment team will also confirm that the appointees have valid security clearance (CTC is required).

6. Prior to finalising any appointments all potential independent members should be subject to a due diligence check. This comprises of a 3 page internet search to confirm if any adverse or inappropriate comments or behaviours towards the Home Office, immigration policies or extremist views.

7. Once all appropriate checks have been completed, a formal offer will be made by the Public Appointments team. This should be followed up by an email from the CPP team informing the successful candidates of the next steps. For a draft email see: Draft email.

8. Once appointed, a Public Office Holder 1 form will need to be completed and sent to shared service recruitment with a minimum of G7 authority. Once this has been processed, confirmation will be received which will allow payment claims to be made.

Post recruitment actions

Successful candidates should be provided with the best possible introduction to the Home Office, Immigration Enforcement, and Immigration Detention, including an understanding of the policies and legal framework within which we operate. First-hand experience of the detention environment and a combination of observations and formal training should be made available for all independent panel members.

The CPP support team will be responsible for arranging the following:

• a visit to an Immigration Removal Centre – to be arranged through Detention Engagement teams - approval will need to be sought from Detention Services prior to any visits being arranged
• training and introduction sessions to be arranged with relevant casework, policy and wider detention safeguarding teams - the training should also include delivery of the CPP Chair and member training and Detained casework training
• observation of at least 2 CPPs: where possible one should be with a current independent panel member - there should be the opportunity to take part in any post panel wash up and ask questions of panel members
• the opportunity to speak to the CPP lead to ask questions and go through any administrative processes for organising panel attendance, feedback and claiming payments and expenses – this will also include an Atlas overview
• access to relevant Home Office IT, including the use of a laptop and access to the Home Office casework system, including any required training

Arranging panel attendance

The Case Progression Panel team will be responsible for ensuring that independent panel members attend the required number of panels. All panels will be hosted virtually using Microsoft Teams.

Normal access to the Home Office estate requires a Common Civil Service pass that needs to be individually coded to the specific building requiring access. It should however be noted that passes cannot be issued if the frequency of access is low, in which case an unescorted pass will need to be organised for the day of attendance.

Required actions

1. CPP team will confirm independent members availability a minimum of one month in advance of panels.

2. All panels will be hosted virtually using Microsoft Teams with the relevant invites provided by the CPP team.

3. Where required, appropriate travel arrangements will be made for independent panel members – such as, booking rail tickets or accommodation. Bookings must be completed through the Corporate Travel Management system, and copied to the independent panel member for collection from a station. All bookings should be made against the relevant business unit cost code.

4. The CPP team will share case lists as soon as possible and no later than 2 days prior to the date of the panel. It is essential that panel members have sufficient time to prepare for each panel they attend.

5. Unescorted building passes for 2 Ruskin Square should be arranged following the Building security and passes process unless the member has a permanent/contractor pass.

Business continuity arrangements

All panels will continue to be hosted virtually using Microsoft Teams if access to a specific building is denied due to a National Security Threat, local Incident, or pandemic.

For further details regarding business continuity arrangements see: Business Continuity Arrangements. The current Threat Level is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) and can be viewed on the Security Service website.

Post panel actions

Feedback

Following attendance at a CPP, feedback will be captured from the Independent panel members during a ‘wash up’ session held at the end of every panel. The relevant feedback log should be completed to ensure feedback is accurately captured.

The details on how this feedback process will work is as follows:

1. Panel chair feedback: the independent panel member will provide positive and / or developmental feedback on individual chair performance using the relevant feedback log (to be provided by CPP team) following a panel. The feedback should be directly sent to the CPP SEO lead. Once feedback has been provided to the chair, via CPP management, the personal details of the chair will be deleted from the logs. Details of the type of the feedback recorded will be retained to enable the CPP team to track trends. These logs will be held within the CPP team shared folder with access limited to CPP management.

2. Case feedback: the independent panel member will also take part during the chairs ‘wash up’ session contributing to identifying cases that require extra escalation to casework leads and would also provide feedback on panel process using the existing ‘Case Feedback Log’ currently used.

Pay and expenses

The CPP team should periodically share the Home Office pay-roll cut off dates with independent panel members. See: Pay and reward on Metis.

Independent panel members will need to complete the Public Office Holder Fee claim form (POH2) via Metis to claim the agreed rate of £210.00.

It should be noted the above rate of £210.00 is for, but not limited to, preparation, participation, assimilating evidence, and drafting feedback for each panel. It is expected that these activities will amount to no more than one day’s work. This excludes the time taken for a lunch break, and travel time from a place of residence to a Home Office building, should travel be required. Independent panel members can be flexible in how they manage their work and are not expected to complete all required activities on the day unless they choose to do so. For example, some may prepare a day before a panel, some may choose to draft feedback the day after, and some may use a combination of both, and a different approach entirely.

It is reasonable to expect that all duties can be completed in one working day, but in exceptional circumstances, and where the weight of business has resulted in the panel or associated activities exceeding more than one day’s work this can be raised with the CPP team before adding an additional line to the POH2 form. If approved, the additional line should be added to claim at either a half day rate of £105.00, or the full day rate of £210.00. These 2 rates also apply to training or any other events outside of the core scope for this role such as attending regular feedback meetings which will fall under the half day rate.

Any official business-related travel (such as, between 2 Marsham Street and 2 Ruskin Square) should also be completed within the parameters of a working day wherever possible. Expenses associated with this can be claimed separately if, for example, tickets were not pre-booked.

Independent members will be compensated the full rate of £210.00 in the unlikely event of a panel being cancelled either on the day, or 48 hours before it was due to take place. To this end, we encourage panel members not to prepare too far in advance, particularly as case lists can be subject to change at short notice.

All expense claims should be made on Metis and copies / photographs of receipts should be kept, and shared (if required) for auditing purposes. We would expect claims to be made within one month of panel attendance. 

POH2 forms must be sent to the CPP lead and signed and authorised at Grade 7 or above and sent to SSC Pay for processing. All claims are against cost code 1418255.

Funding

Funding for independent panel members of Case Progression Panels (CPPs) will be met from within the existing Immigration Enforcement budget.

The CPP team may be asked to provide regular updates on expenditure and should ensure that an accurate record of costs and expenses is kept and updated on a monthly basis.

Independent panel member: role description

Title: Case Progression Panel Independent Member

Duration: Three years fixed term appointment with the possibility of extension or re-appointment, subject to review. 

Remuneration: £210 per day. (Please refer to the Pay and Expenses section)

Time Commitment: The expected time commitment of the role is 15-30 days per annum.

Location: National / remote working

Accountable to: Minister for Border, Security and Asylum

Purpose:

We are seeking to appoint independent panel members for case progression panels (CPPs) to provide additional external oversight to the detention decision making process.

Responsibilities

Members will be responsible for:

• adding value to the panels by helping to achieve a consensus among panel members in its review of all cases in immigration detention who have been detained for 3 months and over
• ensuring a consistency of process and approach to reviewing detention and case progression across the detained immigration system.
• driving case progression and casework diligence to effect departure from the UK whether by administrative removal or deportation
• providing additional oversight of public protection issues and the management and identification of potentially vulnerable people in detention
• recording and reporting back the recommendations made by the panel highlighting significant discussion points to inform the continued development of the process
• attending feedback meetings, as frequently as required, with other independent CPP members and wider business leads to share lessons learned and best practice

We anticipate based on current workflow volumes that we will appoint between 6 and 11 independent panel members.

Independent panel member: personal specification

The criteria that will be used to assess whether candidates have the required qualities, skills and experience are listed below.

Given the nature of the role, we are looking for candidates who understand the need to balance public protection against the vulnerability factors of a person in detention. Candidates must not be currently employed by a statutory agency or a public protection related non-governmental organisation.

Part 1 - Skills and experience

Essential:

• experience of working in a multi-disciplinary environment
• excellent communication, interpersonal and influencing skills, with a personal and professional demeanour that generates trust and confidence in others
• strong organisational skills and the ability to effectively communicate in meetings
• knowledge of safeguarding and vulnerability issues
• knowledge of public protection issues - a significant number of cases will involve Foreign National Offenders and may require difficult conversations to consider offending history and the likelihood of further public harm
• the ability to think logically and objectively in analysing complex information in order to identify key issues and make effective recommendations

Desirable:

• experience of dealing with public protection issues with an understanding of the law enforcement perspective or experience of working in a safeguarding environment in relation to vulnerable people

Part 2 - Personal abilities and behaviours

Required personal abilities and behaviours:

• ability to work collaboratively using persuasion and influence effectively in a high-profile environment
• the ability to recognise and draw appropriately on professional expertise with self-awareness

As a public appointee you will be expected to follow the Seven Principles of Public Life, as set out by the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Due diligence: To note - as part of the recruitment process, due diligence, including social media checks will be undertaken on the appointable candidates.

Independent panel member: media advert

Roles: 6 - 11

Time commitment: 15-30 days per annum

Remuneration: £210 per panel including associated preparation and activities.

Do you want to play a role in assisting the recommendations of a panel to consider the impact of detention on a person and balance the need for public protection?

If so, you can do this by becoming an independent panel member of Case Progression Panels, which form part of the government’s Immigration Detention reform agenda. In 2018 the Home Office announced a wide-ranging package of reforms to Immigration Detention. A key aspect of the reforms was the establishment of an independent element to the existing Case Progression Panel process which reviews all cases of individuals in immigration detention for over 3 months intervals.

The purpose of the panels is to ensure robustness and a consistency of process and approach to reviewing detention and case progression across the detained immigration system, thereby improving individual and stakeholder confidence in detention decisions. As an independent panel member, you will have key responsibility for both:

• contributing to panels and helping to achieve a consensus among panel members in its review of all cases in immigration detention who have been detained for 3 months or more
• recording and reporting back the decisions made by the panel, highlighting significant discussion points to inform the continued development of the process

We are therefore seeking candidates with experience of working in a multi-disciplinary environment - particularly public protection and safeguarding - with excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills, as well as an ability to analyse complex information to identify key issues and make effective recommendations.

Given the nature of the role, we are ideally looking for candidates who understand the safeguarding landscape but are not currently employed by a statutory agency or linked to a related non-governmental organisation. Applications from candidates in the following fields are particularly welcome - criminal justice, health and social care, education and local authorities.

This will be a 3-year term appointment with the possibility of extension. No existing knowledge of the Immigration Detention process is required. The successful candidates will be provided with training on appointment.

Current panel members

Helen Chamberlain

Helen joined CPPs in 2019, having previously worked within the Police Force for 30 years, retiring as chief superintendent in 2018. Helen was head of public protection during her time, responsible for Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) cases involving domestic abuse and serious sexual offences.

Simon Torr

Simon has worked for many years within the Police Force as a divisional command officer, assistant chief constable and deputy chief constable, before retiring in 2017. During his time within the Police Force, Simon worked alongside local authorities on safeguarding partnerships, with his main operational background being in firearms and public order with a particular interest in threats / risk. Simon joined the Independent Family Returns Panel (IFRP) following retirement and subsequently joined the CPP as an independent member.

Mike Taylor

Mike was previously director of a local authority social services as well as a director of two national charities, Save the Children and NSPCC. He has chaired a number of safeguarding boards involving adults and children and is currently chair on the MAAP for the Single Competent Authority.

Glen Suttenwood

Since 2018, Glen has been a Regional Manager for the TTC Group where he is responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective operation of the National Driver Offender Rehabilitation Scheme (NDORS). Between April 2017 and April 2018, Glen was a Lead Investigator for Derbyshire Police Professional Standards Department and prior to this, he worked in South Yorkshire Police as a Chief Inspector.

Joanne Mitchell

Since 2018, Joanne has been a Consultant for MTC. Previously Joanne has worked as a Consultant for Local Authority Transformation at various Local Authorities and was previously a Governor grade in the Scottish Prison Service - working on justice transformation in the Scottish Government Justice Directorate.

Michael Hardy

Michael retired in December 2021. Between February 2019 and December 2021, he served as Head of the Departmental Operations Centre – Secretariat, leading No Deal Brexit planning and the COVID‑19 response at the Ministry of Justice. From May 2017 to January 2019, he was Delivery Policy Lead for Justice Devolution with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Between 2013 and 2017, Michael was Head of Offender Health Policy and Criminal Justice Policy Adviser for the Welsh Government. Prior to this, from 2012 to 2013, he was Head of Counter Narcotics Policy at the British Embassy in Kabul for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Charmaine Arbouin

Since September 2023, Charmaine has been Regional Director for the Independent Office for Police Conduct. She has also served as Independent Chair for Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews since January 2023. Previously, from July 2013 to September 2022, she was British Consul for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Tyson Hepple

Tyson was Executive Director of Operations / Delivery at the Quality Care Commission from August 2021 to April 2025. Before that, he served as Director General of Immigration Enforcement at the Home Office from June 2018 to August 2021, and as Director of Immigration and Protection between October 2015 and May 2018.

Draft email

Dear (insert name of independent panel member)

Thank you for applying for the role as an Independent member of the Home Office Case Progression Panels. We are most grateful for your interest in this role, and we look forward to working with you.

We are pleased to inform you that all of the appropriate Home Office checks have been completed and we are now ready to start your induction into the Home Office and/or the work of the Case Progression Panel team.

(Provide appropriate introductions and details of next steps and required training in line with this guidance)

Signed

Head of CPP team