Home Affairs CommitteeLetter from Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive, UK Border Agency, to the Chair of the Committee, 14 June 2012

Thank you for your letter of 29 May following my oral evidence session before the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday 15 May. Please see below answers to the additional questions that you have raised.

Foreign National Offender (FNO) Referral Process

The process of referring FNOs from the justice system to the UK Border Agency has been an area of significant progress and continued focus as part of the ongoing modernisation of criminal deportations. As I indicated at the evidence session we have a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to ensure that sentenced offenders are referred to the UK Border Agency. The process is effective but I am undertaking a further detailed assessment over the coming months. I will continue to report to you about exceptional cases where prisoners are released prior to consideration of deportation.

The Committee identified the role of other partners in the justice system who could provide further assistance in referrals to the Agency. This includes the police, the prosecuting authorities. and the court service. At best, evidence gathered (such as travel documents) in the early phase of police investigation could support the NOMS to facilitate a prisoner transfer to a foreign prison or deportation. We continue to work closely with justice system partners.

Figures on referral times are not currently available, but we are working with NOMS to ensure that we have these for my next appearance before the Committee.

You asked for a list of sentences that merit automatic deportation. Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007. which came into force on 1 August 2008. places a duty on the Secretary of State to make a deportation order for a person who is not a British citizen who has been convicted in the UK of an offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months.

This duty applies to all foreign criminals except where they fall within one of the exceptions listed in section 33 of the Act. Where an exception does apply, deportation may still be appropriate under the existing provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 or, in the case of European Economic Area nationals and their family members who are exercising Treaty rights, under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

FNOs in the Community

You asked about foreign national offenders who are living in the community and continue to be subject to deportation action and I can confirm that there are around 3,900, as I reported in my previous letter. The table at the top of the previous letter contained a typographical error for which I apologise. The figure for the number released within the previous 12 months should have read 313 rather than 31.

As I have reported to you previously, the vast majority of FNOs living in the community prior to deportation were released by an Immigration Judge on bail. The UK Border Agency must also release those where we have been unable to maintain detention because deportation is not possible within a reasonable period of time. These individuals are assessed according to level of risk and wherever possible those released are placed on restrictions whilst the Agency continues to pursue deportation, except for those released following an allowed appeal.

Deportation of FNOs

You asked about the number of “failed Foreign National Offender removals” in the period 1 December 2011 to 31 March 2012. A number of factors, including logistical, legal or the persistent failure of the individual to engage with the process to confirm their nationality, can prevent the removal of an FNO going ahead as planned. Over this period around 270 planned FNO removals were affected in this way—about a fifth of total removal attempts.1

Over a third of these cases have since been successfully removed and more will be once the issues in question are resolved.

The UK Border Agency removed around 650 FNOs under the Early Release Scheme in the period 1 December 2011 to 31 March 2012. This accounted for just over half of the total FNO removals in the period.2

You also asked for further information on those countries to which we have difficulty returning FNOs. Most countries readily accept their international obligations to take back their own nationals. Effective international co-operation is essential, in terms of agreeing both documentation arrangements and the method of return. However, with some countries the process for obtaining travel documents can be slow. It can be hindered by the lack of supporting evidence about an individual’s claimed nationality, or poor compliance by the individual with documentation procedures. There are some countries where we receive limited or no co-operation with the returns process and in these circumstances it can be difficult to return individuals. The Agency, in conjunction with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, invests considerable time and effort to resolve these issues. Legal barriers, affecting all returns to some countries, add a further dimension: in many cases the individual (or their representative) will mount prolonged and repeated attempts to frustrate removal, through non-compliance with the re-documentation process and submission of frivolous or late notice legal representations.

A more detailed explanation of the obstacles we face with specific countries could inhibit our ability to negotiate with each country effectively. I would, of course, be happy to provide an in confidence briefing on this matter if it would be helpful.

UK Border Agency Staffing

The number of full time equivalent UK Border Agency employees at the end of May 2012 was 12,835 (note this excludes Border Force). The number of full time equivalent UK Border Agency employees at the end of May 2011, excluding Border Force, was 14,431.

Full time equivalent employees broken down by group are as follows.3

Directorate

May 20124

May 2011 restated5

International Group

1,970

2,130

Resource Management Group6

777

785

Human Resources and

Organisational Development6

550

638

Strategy and Intelligence

Directorate

134

110

Enforcement & Crime Group

2,273

2,084

Immigration Group

7,131

8,684

Total UKBA (excluding Border Force and Policy and Strategy)

12,835

14,431

Visa Processing Times

The UK Border Agency’s customer service standards state that we will process 90% of non-settlement visa applications within three weeks, 98% within six weeks and 100% within 12 weeks of the application date.

Performance statistics for the processing of applications under the Points Based System during the period January to March 2012 are as follows:

Total number of applications

3 weeks

6 weeks

12 weeks

Tier 1

7,699

94%

98%

100%

Tier 2

16,746

98%

99%

100%

Tier 4

26,189

91%

98%

99%

Tier 5

11,959

98%

100%

100%

Performance statistics for the processing of applications under the Points Based System during the period October to December 2011 are as follows:

Total number of applications

3 weeks

6 weeks

12 weeks

Tier 1

4,860

93%

99%

100%

Tier 2

14,929

98%

100%

100%

Tier 4

30,165

84%

87%

88%

Tier 5

7,257

98%

99%

100%

The above data is sourced from operational management systems and is not fully assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from internal management information do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

Appeals

Between 1 October and 31 December 2011 the UK Border Agency was represented at 83% of First Tier appeal hearings. For asylum appeal hearings within the same period the Agency was represented at 94% of First Tier hearings. The Agency was represented at 100% of hearings related to deportation cases and 100% of Upper Tier hearings.7

Immigration Casework

Work in Progress (WiP) levels for temporary and permanent migration for October 2011 to March 2012 are as follows:

Case Type

Oct 11

Nov 11

Dec 11

Jan 12

Feb 12

Mar 12

Temporary

Routes

Family

6,638

7,433

7,626

7,820

7,729

18,674

Employment

6,173

10,328

11,238

9,924

10,092

17,837

Study

25,829

24,709

18,580

15,437

14,943

17,431

Visiting the UK

144

203

241

305

265

345

Permanent Routes

Permanent Residence

9,240

9,618

9,910

14,415

17,958

18,936

Euro (inc ECAA and A2)

18,929

20,037

20,576

23,387

23,046

28,737

March 2012 saw a substantial increase in the number of applications under the Tier 1 Post Study route, and intensive work to curtail the leave of non-compliant students. We will return to our normal level of service across the majority of routes by the end of July. These issues were discussed by Dame Helen Ghosh and Jeremy Oppenheim at our oral evidence session before the Public Accounts Committee on 14 May.

We do not routinely publish the average age of cases in the WiP as it is misleading due to a small numbers of exceptional cases that for various legal and practical reasons take longer to conclude. Our performance on processing times is measured by the percentage of cases that are concluded within an agreed processing time (our Service Level Agreement) which more accurately reflects how long we take to process the majority of applications within a certain category.

Tier 4 Notifications

Between 1 December 2011 and 31 March 2012 we received about 35,300 notifications about students from Tier 4 sponsors through the Sponsorship Management System (SMS).8 These do not all necessarily relate to non-compliance and a substantial portion will not result in curtailment action because they simply refer to administrative matters such as address or course changes. It is not possible to specify how many of these related to a potential curtailment of leave as at the time that these notifications were received they were not electronically flagged by category. It would require a manual cross reference of all notifications to determine how many relate to a potential curtailment.

Since 6 April 2012 the SMS has been upgraded to allow sponsors to categorise their notifications. This should allow us to more easily identify which notifications may relate to curtailment action, which will assist us in prioritising actions as well as reporting figures to the Committee. However any figures generated this way will be purely indicative and will rely upon individual sponsors categorising their notifications correctly.

Of the 35,300 notifications received between 1 December 2011 and 31 March 2012, about 24,400 (69%) have now been investigated.9 When we take action following a notification we keep an electronic record (so that the notification can be closed) but we do not record the date against that action. We can therefore only generate reports as a snapshot at the time that the report is run.

IT Supplier

Atos currently provides the Home Office with a range of application management and hosting services under the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support contract, which runs until 31 January 2016. The contract has an estimated value of £220 million over six years, from 2010 (when the contract was renegotiated) to 2016. This information has previously been provided to Cabinet Office and published as part of the Crown Pipeline in 2010; it is available here: http://data.gov.uk/sites/defaultIfiles/Crown%20Pipeline.csv

Expenditure in 2011/12 was approximately £52 million.

Visits by Members of the Committee

Finally I received your letter of 16 May about Committee members arranging visits to the Agency. I would like to reassure you that we are happy to facilitate such visits. In addition to the Committee’s visit to Lunar House scheduled for 28 June we have invited Bridget Phillipson MP to visit our Asylum Screening Unit this summer. The clerk of the Committee has the contact details for my team and you are welcome to share these with members of the Committee to assist in accommodating future visits.

I hope this additional information has been useful.

Rob Whiteman
Chief Executive, UK Border Agency

1 Both successful and unsuccessful removals.

2 All data is sourced from operational management systems and is not fully assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from internal management information do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

3 Border Force and Policy and Strategy staffing figures have been removed from the May 2011 data as both directorates have since been split from the UK Border Agency.

4 Figures have been estimated using 30 May 2012 data.

5 Some posts will have switched between directorates, therefore figures are not directly comparable.

6 Both Human Resources and Organisational Development and Resource Management Group contain functions with significant numbers of staff that undertake work that supports the frontline: both carry out shared functions so while staff are listed as UK Border Agency employees their roles includes supporting Border Force.

7 All data is sourced from operational management systems and is not fully assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from internal management information do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

8 All data is sourced from operational management systems and is not fully assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from internal management information do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

9 All data is sourced from operational management systems and is not fully assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from internal management information do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

Prepared 20th July 2012