Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
The NAO reported that Immigration Enforcement uses management information to assess the performance of individual...
Conclusion
The NAO reported that Immigration Enforcement uses management information to assess the performance of individual teams rather than the system’s overall health, and the Department accepted this finding.16 We asked whether the Department could deliver an effective immigration enforcement service without basic management information. The Department rejected the suggestion that it had no management information, and stated it had “too much [management information], but not of the right sort”. It recognised the need to improve its management information and its ability to measure the overall outcomes of its activities rather than inputs and outputs.17 For example, the NAO reported that the Department and its partners identified 11,300 clandestine attempts to enter the country at UK ports and 35,600 attempts from overseas in the twelve months to the end of October
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: March 2021 The department’s priority is to ensure that the collection, use and analysis of data support the effective delivery of public safety and security outcomes. Alongside HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and the National Health Service, the department holds some of the most significant datasets in Government. Effective use of data is therefore critical. The department recognises that an investment in data analytics is important. As such, work is currently underway to create (and, where they already exist, expand) pockets of excellence, with an increased departmental-wide focus on data exploitation. The department’s technology investments are developing the underpinning infrastructure with a focus on accurate and high-quality data. Moving data onto modern and more resilient systems ensures that the twin priorities of keeping data secure and private and using data effectively to deliver positive outcomes can both be met. The analytical capability within Immigration Enforcement (IE) specifically has grown significantly in recent years, with new Social Research, Operational Research and Economic Analysis teams all created to improve the analysis of data. But there is clearly more to do. IE therefore has a comprehensive and long-term plan to transform into an organisation that fully harnesses the opportunities that data provide. Whilst challenging – the plan involves the delivery of a number of technical components, the re-engineering of a number of existing work processes and an overarching cultural change in the way that IE staff approach data – the current departmental assessment is that, with the appropriate allocation and investment of resources, this plan can be fully and comprehensively delivered by 2025.