Since its inception in 2008 the ICIBI has published over 130 inspection reports and made more than 800 recommendations for improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the asylum, immigration, nationality and customs functions for which the Home Secretary is responsible.

Over the years, ICIBI has made changes to its ways of working to improve its own efficiency and effectiveness. These have included shortening the inspection timeline to ensure reports remain current, introducing re-inspections to check on progress in implementing recommendations, and creating a 3-year Inspection Plan to provide a better sense of the overall shape and range of ICIBI’s work programme, how planned inspections fit together thematically, and to signpost when particular topics will be examined.

At the outset, ICIBI produced a set of inspection criteria for inspectors to follow. This was last updated in 2013 and has served ICIBI well. However, some of the current 10 inspection criteria are relevant only to certain types of inspection, and this can create confusion about which ones are being applied and which are not in particular cases.

Partly for this reason, but primarily to make best use of the wealth of knowledge and experience ICIBI has gained over the past 10 years about the key factors that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of all asylum, immigration, nationality and customs functions, I am replacing the inspection criteria with a list of ‘expectations’.

These expectations will form the starting point for all future ICIBI inspections. Inspectors will look for evidence of, and test each of them, before examining any additional areas that are specific to the inspection in question.

The expectations are intended to be helpful not just to ICIBI inspectors, but also to the Home Office and others responsible for delivering these functions, as well as to anyone who encounters them and to other stakeholders. To that end, they are written in plain English, and no specialist knowledge of the borders and immigration system or of inspecting is required to interpret them.

David Bolt
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

The Universities Minister has pledged to open students’ eyes to the range of different outcomes being delivered by universities to help them make the best choice about where and what to study. It follows research that reveals how studying the same subject at a different institution can significantly affect future earnings and career prospects.

Sam Gyimah is leading an ‘information transformation’ through the development of new digital tools and mobile apps so every prospective student, whether they are from a disadvantaged background or the first in their family to attend university, has the same access at their fingertips to the different outcomes provided by different institutions.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that women who study one of the 100 courses providing the lowest economic returns have earnings up to 64% (approximately £17,000) less than the average degree after graduation. For men, this can be up to 67% (approximately £21,000). The Universities Minister wants to make it easy for students to find out which degree courses at which institutions could offer them better prospects in the future.

The new technology will level the playing field for the most disadvantaged students, who often receive no help or encouragement on university choice, so they can understand the life-changing impact a degree from the right university can have on their future.

The government is publishing a record amount of data on universities and their differing outcomes, and the Universities Minister is committed to making sure everyone has the information they need to make the right decision for them – the new mobile apps and digital tools will put this information directly into the palms of their hand.

Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:

Going to university is one of the single biggest investments a person will make in their lifetime and it is absolutely vital that everyone has the information they need to make the right decision. We’re publishing over half a million cells of data showing graduate outcomes for every university – more than has ever been published before.

What you study and where you study really matters, and these new digital tools will highlight which universities and courses will help people to reach the top of their field, and shine a light on ones lagging behind – levelling the playing field for every prospective student.

This is the start of an information transformation for students, which will revolutionise how students choose the right university for them. I want this to pave the way for a greater use of technology in higher education, with more tools being made available to boost students’ choices and prospects.

Sam Gyimah launched a £125,000 competition earlier this year for companies to develop apps and digital tools so student outcome data can be put at the fingertips of students.

At a showcase event held on 1 November at Imperial College London, the Universities Minister unveiled the final five prototype apps and websites from this competition, and announced that two of those finalists will receive an additional £150,000 each to develop their design into a final product.

The Minister met the five finalists, made up of tech companies and coders from across the UK, to test their prototype apps along with prospective students.

The five tech companies are:

• AccessEd Ltd. – ThinkUni app: a “personalised careers assistant” on mobile, laptop or tablet
• Course Match Ltd. – Coursematch app: an app with a swipeable interface
• MyEd Ltd. – UniPlaces: an innovative, web-based compatibility checker tool
• The Profs – That’s Life: a web-based tool that gamifies university and career choices
• UNI4U Ltd. – a web-based tool which will match students to their ideal university

This funding is part of the Universities Minister’s drive to provide transparency for students and boost quality – offering accessible measurements of data that matters to students, and exposing courses that are lagging behind.

Research published by the government in June 2018 showed that what students study and the institution really matters to their future life chances. In many other areas of life, from utility bills to hospital care, technology has put better information at our fingertips. These new tools will help enable a similar revolution in transparency in Higher Education.

This is part of a wider revolution in transparency in Higher Education data – the government is already publishing a wide range of data including likely earnings, employability, and teaching quality at universities, also known as TEF. Sam Gyimah now wants to make it even easier for young people to use information like this to help them choose where to study.

The decision to launch a statutory consultation follows a review by the Adjudicator, Paul Newby and Fiona Dickie, Deputy Pubs Code Adjudicator over how pub companies regulated by the Pubs Code disclose the quantity of alcohol on which duty has been paid and how they calculate the saleable volume of draught products supplied under their tied agreements. These calculations can affect both achievable turnover and expected profit margins, and they are therefore important factors for tenants when considering the fairness of their tied rent.

The consultation, which will run until 11 January 2019, sets out proposed guidance in relation to pub companies’ statutory obligations to accurately account when proposing a new tied rent for both the duty paid on alcohol that will be supplied under the tenancy and the volume of draught beer and cider that will be saleable after allowing for waste. In particular, the PCA will be expecting pub companies to account for sediment and operational waste separately.

Paul Newby said: “This issue of compliance has been discussed at length with the pub companies and the PCA’s approach will not come as a surprise. Fiona Dickie and I have decided to launch a consultation because these cover complex and technical areas of the Pubs Code and we want to ensure that all industry stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on what we are proposing.”

Fiona Dickie said: “Historically, all pub companies have dealt with waste in different ways. The Pubs Code requires them to give tied tenants a clear explanation of how waste is calculated, and this consultation sets out our proposals for delivering fairness for tenants by ensuring greater consistency and transparency in the way these calculations are set out.”

The consultation also sets out proposed guidance on how the PCA will expect pub companies to ensure that all their tied tenants have access to training on cellar management and dispensing best practice, as well as to ongoing cellar management support, so that they can realise the levels of business on which their rent is based.

Business Development Managers employed by the regulated pub companies should also be trained to understand and explain to tenants how waste has been calculated.

The PCA is working towards publishing statutory guidance for the industry during Spring of next year.

Note to editors:

The detailed consultation can be read here where responses can be submitted online. Or responses can be sent to:

Email: office@pubscodeadjudicator.gov.uk