David Bolt – Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI), ‘An inspection of the Home Office’s use of language services in the asylum process: May – November 2019’, 11 November 2020

Abstract

This inspection examined the efficiency, effectiveness and consistency of the Home Office’s use of language services in the asylum process, with a particular focus on the quality and accuracy of interpretation services provided, of written translations and of language analysis. It also examined the effectiveness of quality assurance measures and mechanisms to ensure lessons are learned and shared.

The inspection findings are reported against the ICIBI’s six ‘expectations’ of asylum, immigration, nationality and customs functions:

• background and explanatory documents are easy to understand and use
• processes are simple to follow and transparent
• anyone exercising an immigration, asylum, nationality or customs function on behalf of the Home Secretary is fully competent
• decisions and actions are ‘right first time’
• errors are identified, acknowledged and promptly ‘put right’
• each immigration, asylum, nationality or customs function has a Home Office (Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System) ‘owner’