Response to an inspection of the Future Border and Immigration System benefits realisation
Published 15 September 2026
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The Home Office welcomes the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report on Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) benefits realisation and its recognition of FBIS as one of the most significant transformation initiatives undertaken across the UK’s borders and immigration system.
The inspection considered how benefits are captured, owned and sustained as the programme moves towards closure, but examined only a limited subset of the wider benefits delivered or enabled by FBIS. The department’s response is therefore focused on the benefits within the scope of the inspection.
The FBIS programme has been one of the Home Office’s most significant transformation successes, delivering substantial change, including Electronic Travel Authorisations, eVisas, major fee income benefits, the removal of physical Biometric Residence Permit activity, and improved passenger flows through wider use of eGates. These achievements are modernising the immigration system and delivering a more secure, efficient and digital border.
This progress was recognised at the Government Project Delivery Awards in March 2026, where FBIS won the Service Transformation Award for delivery of eVisas and Electronic Travel Authorisations, reflecting its contribution to a more secure, accessible and cost-effective immigration system and to the government’s Plan for Change. This external recognition was further reinforced by the 2026 review by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which praised the programme’s maturity, strong governance and effective delivery, highlighting significant financial and economic benefits alongside the transformation of digital permission capabilities.
Taken together, these assessments underline the strength of the programme’s approach to delivery. The department welcomes the inspection report’s recognition of good practice within FBIS, including its strong delivery focus, effective collaboration across policy, digital, operational and learning partners, and the creation of a platform from which lessons can be captured and embedded across future Home Office transformation activity.
The inspection report identifies areas for further development as responsibility transitions into business-as-usual operations and makes three recommendations to support this process, all of which are accepted in full. The Home Office welcomes the recommendations, which align with the phased approach already being taken to embed lasting change across the border system.
Through its response to the recommendations, the department will demonstrate how it will preserve and apply good practice, clarify ongoing responsibility for benefits realisation, and safeguard the long-term value of the capabilities delivered by FBIS.
Recommendation 1: Lessons Learned/Best Practice
It is recommended that as the Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) programme closes, a lessons learnt exercise identifies the many elements of good practice that have underpinned its success to date, and that these be embodied within Home Office assurance methodologies to provide a template of best practice and to test transferability into other projects and programmes.
Accepted
The Home Office welcomes this recommendation and recognises the importance of capturing the good practice developed through the Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) programme so it can inform future projects and programmes.
Work is already well advanced. FBIS remains the largest programme contributor to the Home Office Lessons Learned repository, and a deep dive into more than 360 lessons has been completed to identify transferable good practice and strengthen assurance approaches.
Learning has also been shared through Home Office and international engagement, demonstrating how FBIS practice in governance, risk-based decision-making, compliance maturity, strategic oversight and operational resilience can support other complex transformation environments.
As FBIS moves through transition and closure, planned lessons learned activity will capture system-level knowledge, preserve key delivery insights and ensure that the Programme leaves a practical legacy of knowledge sharing across the Home Office.
Date of implementation: January 2027
Recommendation 2: Ongoing Delivery
It is recommended that before FBIS closes, work is undertaken to identify exactly who will be responsible for any ongoing delivery of all benefits including those that have/are being delivered, and those yet to come to fruition.
Accepted
The Home Office accepts this recommendation and agrees with the importance of ensuring clear roles and responsibilities for the monitoring and realisation of benefits delivered by the Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) programme. Each benefit being delivered by the FBIS programme has a defined owner in place. Owners were agreed during the identification of the benefits. Typically, benefit owners work within the area of the department most directly impacted by the delivery the benefit.
As part of the programme’s transition and closure arrangements, we will organise formal handovers with benefit owners to ensure that they are clear on their responsibilities to continue to monitor and measure the realisation of benefits delivered by the FBIS programme. We will also work with portfolio teams within the Home Office to agree benefit reporting processes following Programme closure.
Date of implementation: January 2027
Recommendation 3: Border Transformation
It is recommended that the work and momentum of the Border Transformation team be significantly enhanced with resources and support to enable it to take on oversight of delivery of all aspects of transforming the border in ways that fully utilise the potential of the capabilities FBIS has produced, and delivers the efficiency benefits at the border in conjunction with Spending Review requirements, across all ports.
It is for consideration that this is best achieved by adopting a portfolio approach with the current team migrating to a Border Transformation Task Force, led by and involving operations staff at all levels.
Accepted
The Home Office will build on the momentum established by the Passenger Transformation Delivery Team as FBIS capabilities are embedded and the wider transformation agenda progresses across the organisation.
As the FBIS programme concludes, existing structures and delivery arrangements will be reviewed to ensure they are aligned to deliver transformation effectively over the coming years. This will include the consideration of the resource and support required and how oversight of all border transformation activity and benefits realisation across ports will be managed.
The future structure, including whether to adopt a portfolio approach, will be determined by March 2027.
Date of implementation: March 2027