A latest report released by the National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted that the UK Home Office has not made a proper assessment of the number of illegal immigrants since 2005. Fifteen years ago, Home Office had estimated that there were about 430,000 people with no right to remain. Yet, latest research by other independent organisations suggest that the tally may be over one million.
Released on Wednesday 17th June, the NAO report notes,
“The Home Office does not have an up-to-date estimate of how many people have no right to remain in the UK.
Although there would be significant uncertainty around any estimate it [the department] developed, such an estimate could help the department to demonstrate that its activities are effective in deterring attempts to enter or remain in the UK illegally.”
The report also highlighted that the Home Office had placed the demand for its immigration enforcement services between 240,000 and 320,000 cases a year. But it does not include people who had no governmental contact over the past two years and, hence, failed to understand if the department’s enforcement measures were effective.
In the past year to October 2019, detected attempts by people to come into the UK increased to 46,900. However, the NAO notes it is unclear if this was because more attempts were being made or if there was better detection. The NAO has also recommended the Home Office to look at how other government departments threw up with estimates of “hidden activity”, such as organised crime, to “improve its understanding of the full scale of the illegal population in the UK and identify new ways to address some of the challenges it faces”.
Commenting on the complex immigration enforcement systems, NAO chief Gareth Davies said, “While the Home Office has introduced significant changes to its enforcement activity, it cannot demonstrate that overall performance is improving.
“The department needs a better understanding of the impact of its immigration enforcement activity on its overarching vision to reduce the size of the illegal population and the harm it causes.”
