Response to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration report: an inspection of administrative reviews
Published 25 June 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/response-to-a-report-on-an-inspection-of-administrative-reviews/response-to-the-independent-chief-inspector-of-borders-and-immigration-report-an-inspection-of-administrative-reviews
April – August 2025
The Home Office thanks the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) for this report on Administrative Review.
The Home Office views the report as constructive, and the recommendations build on existing work and initiatives to improve the processing and timeliness of decision making in Administrative Review. The Home Office is pleased the report recognises that reviewers are effective at identifying and correcting casework errors and that robust training, mentoring and feedback processes are in place to support new staff during a prolonged period of expansion.
This report focusses on the delays in decision making for applicants and the Home Office recognises the importance of addressing backlogs to ensure the efficiency of the Migration & Borders system. Work is already underway to address the timeliness of Administrative Review outcomes, and the recommendations in this report are complementary to that work. The report promotes greater transparency through publication of Administrative Review related data with which the Home Office agrees and is working towards.
Several of the recommendations relate to system improvements and many of these already form part of the Home Office’s programme for improving the Atlas system. The improvements in train will continue to build the platform’s effectiveness and usage.
The ICIBI identified several areas for improvement and has made seven recommendations. Of these, the Home Office fully accepts four recommendations and partially accepts the remaining three. Partial acceptances reflect either that systems have been enhanced beyond the position of the 2019 recommendations or reflect the broader scope of multi-part recommendations.
Recommendation 1
Before the end of 2025, implement Recommendation 4 from ‘An inspection of Administrative Reviews (May – December 2019)’ to:
“Conduct and publish a full evaluation of the Administrative Review (AR) system, baselined against the “Objectives” and “Appraisal (Cost and Benefits)” set out in the 2013 ‘Impact Assessment of Reforming Immigration Appeal Rights’ and other official statements made during the passage of the Immigration Bill 2014, and including:
a. a list of actions (with owners and timescales) required to deliver what was originally intended;
b. consideration of potential changes to AR policy and practice, whether overall or specific to certain routes, that would improve the customer experience, including (but not limited to) empowering the AR reviewer to consider fresh evidence, particularly where the eligible decision involved an assessment of the applicant’s credibility.”
Partially accepted
The draft report to meet Recommendation 4 from the 2019 inspection was shared with the inspection team as part of the further evidence request in August 2025. The review was commenced in Autumn 2024. The start was delayed for reasons including immigration system simplification changes, and the priorities of policy responses to the Covid period since the time of the last report.
It would not be appropriate for the report to contain specific actions, owners and timescales when it is due to be published, however the draft report has been updated to reflect intended actions following the 2025 inspection and will be published as soon as possible.
Date of implementation: July 2026
Recommendation 2
Additionally, in respect of Recommendation 1 b) above:
a. revise the role of the Workflow team (providing staff with the necessary training and guidance) to incorporate a clearly defined case preparation function, which should include triaging AR applications against an agreed set of priorities and criteria, taking full account of potential safeguarding issues, plus weeding out and responding to invalid applications without involving an EO caseworker.
b provide AR decision makers with access to Proviso or other relevant systems, so that they are able to implement AR decisions in international cases where errors are found, rather than having to refer them back to the original decision-making unit.
c. conduct a skill set audit to identify the skills and experience required for the different roles within the ARU, taking account of the additional responsibilities recommended above, and including a review of the suitability of the Masterclass cohort as AR caseworkers which can be shared with other Customer Service Group business areas along with any lessons learned from this recruitment initiative.
Accepted
a. The Home Office commits to reviewing the role of the Workflow team and maximising the case insight and preparation potential within that operational remit. Additional resource has been secured to begin a trial of additional functions which will be used to make a risk-based decision on the appropriate grade for concluding Administrative Review applications.
b. The Home Office is committed to ensuring that relevant system access is available to all casework areas. In the long-term the intent is that Atlas will be the most effective solution to bring uniformity and enhanced data reporting. More immediately a review is being undertaken to ensure that Administrative Review staff have access to necessary systems, including Proviso.
c. The Home Office will undertake a skill set audit following the review of the Admin Review Workflow team. Overall Masterclass recruitment is led by the central Workforce & Service Support team (WSS) who monitor wider feedback on Masterclass cohorts. Following the probation review points within the first six months in probation guidance, the review will be undertaken with any lessons learned shared with WSS.
Date of implementation: March 2027
Recommendation 3
Commit publicly (on GOV.UK) to restoring the 28-day Customer Service Standard (CSS) for administrative review decisions, or to a revised CSS (no longer than 12 weeks), and specify the date from which this will apply. In support of this, produce a recovery plan for internal Home Office use that is signed off by the Migration and Borders System Board.
Accepted
The Home Office is committed to transparency of operational performance where appropriate and acknowledges that a Customer Service Standard (CSS) for Administrative Reviews should be considered. To achieve this the positive work already underway to reduce wait times needs to continue and must be accompanied by improvement of reporting tools to enable external publishing of data. This is underway and a project will be undertaken to review progress and establish what the correct level of a CSS for Administrative Reviews would be. Operations level recovery plans are not submitted to the Migration and Borders System Board and are handled through operational governance mechanisms.
Date of implementation: December 2026
Recommendation 4
Revisit Recommendation 1 a) – c) from ‘An inspection of Administrative Reviews (May – December 2019)’ below, as a first step in identifying and prioritising any unmet user requirements and ‘fixes’ for the IT systems used to record and process ARs that are necessary to enable the recommended actions to be completed:
“Ensure that all data and information relevant to demonstrating how the
Administrative Review (AR) system is working, including related Pre-Action Protocol (PAPs) or Judicial Review (JR) data, is routinely captured and analysed, and used to affect the continuous improvement of both ARs and original immigration decisions.”
Linked to this:
a. ensure that guidance and instructions to caseworkers (including Border Force officers) responsible for making eligible decisions mandate the minimum recording standards/data requirements in respect of their decisions, actions and reasons/justifications;
b. publish quarterly performance data for ARs, covering as a minimum: the numbers of in-country, overseas, at the border and EU Settlement Scheme ARs received; the outcomes (including numbers of ARs declared invalid, with a breakdown of the main reasons); and processing times (having first published the Customer Service Standard (CSS);
c. publish (periodically) the details of improvements made to policies, guidance and original decision-making practice as a result of the lessons learned from ARs, first ensuring that feedback mechanisms are effective (timely, specific, and auditable);
Partially accepted
The Home Office is in testing phase of the Vantage product for administrative review which links to Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) data. The same will be brought into the AR Vantage product for Judicial Review (JR) data when JR Vantage is completed.
a. The Home Office does not accept this part of the recommendation from 2019 because since that time the development of Atlas has built into the system minimum data requirements within in its casework design so that cases cannot be progressed without the minimum fields being completed.
b. The Home Office commits to publishing quarterly Administrative Review transparency data for those workstreams that have the requisite level of data production. The Home Office is currently working to publish in-country Administrative Review data by the end of 2026. This will potentially include volumes of applications received, concluded decisions grouped by outcomes and an indication of processing times by workstream. The Home Office does not intend to publish data on reasons for rejecting invalid Administrative Review applications as it is not routinely reported on in immigration statistics and would require a system change to established MI procedures.
c. The Home Office recognises the benefit of effective feedback and is committed to ensuring the existing feedback mechanisms are maintained and continually enhanced. However, the Home Office will not commit to publishing such detail, because as highlighted in 2019’s response, the feedback may contain sensitive information that is not suitable for the public domain.
Date of implementation: November 2026
Recommendation 5
Review the current quality assurance regimes for all types of eligible decision, ensuring that where dip sampling is used the sample size is based on a full assessment of the risks associated with poor quality decisions, including the impact on applicants and on the credibility of the AR system as an adequate substitute for the right of appeal. The same considerations should be applied to decision quality scores, where the aim should be to eliminate all errors not just incorrect decisions.
Accepted
Assurance leads have conducted a Targeted Assurance Report on the Admin Review Unit and the quality assurance regime for Admin Review will be reviewed in line.
Decision quality scores for quality assurance of Administrative Review decisions are set in line with wider department assurance guidelines. Following the publication of the ICIBI Inspection report into the ‘Management of Fee Waiver Applications’ in 2025 assurance leads within the department have commenced a review of the definitions of quality scores, particularly in relation to reducing minor errors and driving up standards. Any revisions to Administrative Review quality scores will follow from this review to ensure consistency across casework areas rather than amending in isolation.
Date of implementation: December 2026
Recommendation 6
By the end of March 2026, review the impact of the Border Force Administrative Review Hub’s new quality assurance strategy, including its effectiveness in driving improvements to decision quality.
Accepted
In June 2025 the Border Force Administrative Review Hub introduced a new assurance strategy. This strategy established the standards and procedures to systematically evaluate and enhance the quality and consistency of operational decision-making.
The Hub is committed to refining its assurance processes to maximise their effectiveness. Details of assurance activity are used to identify patterns and trends, enabling timely and appropriate remedial action. Where issues suggest gaps in policy or guidance, these are escalated for resolution.
To support regional oversight and promote learning, bi-monthly feedback packs have been introduced for regional casework leads. These will be developed to include data on application volumes, key findings, and observations on areas of good practice and improvement. In addition, monthly data on quality issues by region and port will be collected and analysed to assess the impact of feedback and inform further enhancements to the assurance process.
The Hub is engaging with the Border Force Operational Assurance Directorate to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy and its contribution to improved decision quality.
Date of implementation: September 2026
Recommendation 7
Grant access to the Home Office Platform for Storage (HOPS) to the Border Force Administrative Review Hub and transfer all relevant files / applicant data out of shared mailboxes, ensuring that in future the Hub follows Home Office policy and guidance on the storage of applicant data.
Partially accepted
The Home Office acknowledges the principle underpinning this recommendation that the current data storage arrangements must be improved in this area.
However, while the Home Office Platform for Storage (HOPS) has been identified by ICIBI as a preferred solution, the initial review suggests that it may not be the most appropriate platform to meet these specific operational needs. In consultation with the designated Data Protection Practitioner the most suitable and compliant data storage solution will be identified. As such the solution may differ from the specific system in the recommendation but will fully align with Home Office data governance standards and the intent of the recommendation.
In parallel, work is underway to improve general data handling practices. All Administrative Review applications will be recorded on the Atlas casework platform, with supporting documentation linked directly to individual cases. Documents uploaded to Atlas are automatically raised in HOPS, ensuring improved traceability and compliance with data management protocols.
Date of implementation: September 2026