Inspection Report Published: An inspection of the effectiveness of the UKVI Chief Caseworker Unit’s referral process (September-October 2021)

Publishing the report David Neal said:

I welcome the publication of this report which looked at the operation of UKVI’s Chief Caseworker Unit (CCU). Established in 2018 to champion culture change across the Home Office in the wake of the Windrush scandal CCU is considered by the Department to be an example of how the organisation was “going beyond the recommendations” contained in the Windrush Lessons Learned Review.

The inspection found that CCU had a positive reputation amongst internal stakeholders, and the referral process was clear, straightforward, and functioned well. CCU’s staff had extensive experience of the Home Office and showed themselves to be dedicated and engaged in their work.

There were, however, four areas which required attention. Firstly, the internal service level agreements for the completion of work on a referred case had been set without consideration of the complexity of many of the referrals received and were therefore often not met. Secondly, the business support function of the Chief Caseworker Unit (CCU) was over-stretched and required additional resources. Thirdly, the management information used to monitor cases and assess performance was poor. Finally, the inspection also highlighted the need to refresh and refocus CCU’s engagement strategy to ensure it adequately supported the unit’s aims and objectives.

This inspection made six recommendations and I am pleased that the Home Office has accepted all of them, and particularly welcome the fact that work has already begun on their implementation.

David Neal Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration