BackThe lives of members of a family were put at risk because the Home Office didn’t listen to their concerns about an overseas criminal and continually failed to put right their earlier mistakes, according to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigated a complaint from a mother who discovered that a Canadian man living with her daughter had lied about his overseas criminal past when he came to the UK to live and work. Fearing for the safety of her daughter and herself she raised her concerns with the Home Office in November 2010.
Despite being sent information about the overseas criminal several times, the Home Office missed vital opportunities to keep a family safe. The Canadian man harassed the family with repeated texts, emails as well as telephone calls. He was arrested several times and on the second occasion the police found him test firing a crossbow and an air rifle which he had bought along with a replica air pistol. He had also bought a white van, with the rear windscreen replaced at his request with a metal grill. The police informed the Home Office of the offences but were told the man had permission to be in the UK and was therefore not of interest to them.
The Home Office took no responsibility for the consequences of their mistakes, which caused unnecessary pain and distress to the family for over two years.
The investigation found that the Home Office:
- Failed to have adequate measures in place to test the information they receive about visa history, criminal convictions and good character.
- Made mistakes when logging information about the Canadian man which meant it was too late for any action to be taken at Heathrow Airport when the man returned to the UK.
- Told the police they had no interest in the Canadian man when he was arrested.
- Did not respond to the email with the original allegation and two subsequent letters from the complainant.
- Took no responsibility for what happened to the complainant and her family.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said:
'A mother and her family were forced to endure a living nightmare for months on end because of the Home Office’s repeated mistakes.
'Vital opportunities to protect the family were missed because procedures weren’t followed, allegations weren’t followed up and two of the complainant’s letters lost.
'The Home Office needs to embed a culture of learning from mistakes into the organisation to ensure that no one else goes through this terrifying experience. We are pleased that the Permanent Secretary will be taking responsibility for looking at their systems and processes to ensure this never happens again.'
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman have made the following recommendations to the Home Office.
- Pay the family £120,000 by way of apology for the effect on the six family members of their mistakes and £10,184 towards their expenses.
- For the Permanent Secretary to take responsibility for three separate reviews into their systems and processes.
- Approach to checking visa applicants’ statements about their overseas criminal records and good character;
- Handling of allegations;
- Dealing with correspondence.
The report has been laid in Parliament so it may hold the Home Office to account for the failings we have identified in this investigation.
Source: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, United Kingdom
