The government’s borders inspector has expressed his “frustration” at not being able to meet home secretary Priti Patel once since his appointment more than a year ago.
David Neal – appointed the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 14 months ago – told MPs that he was “disappointed” to have had five or six meetings cancelled.
“I’ve not met the home secretary yet,” he told the home affairs select committee. “I’ve asked to speak to her on a number occasions, and pre-arranged meeting have been cancelled on maybe five or six occasions now.”
Asked if the experience was different from his previous dealings with other departments, Mr Neal said: “It is – I’m disappointed I haven’t spoken to the home secretary, and frustrated, because I think I’ve got things to offer from the position I hold.”
Mr Neal said he had been forced to “switch fire” when it came to dealing with vital issues like the migrant crossings in the English Channel – arranging meetings with junior ministers at the Home Office instead.
The inspector he was “happy” with the engagement of junior ministers and senior civil servants – but repeated his frustration over the failure to speak to Ms Patel.
“I think it’s really important that my views and my experience supplement the reports we put before parliament,” he told the select committee.
Mr Neal added: “With the home secretary, to be honest, I’ve switched fire. I’ve written to her on a number occasions, I’ve had a number of meetings cancelled, I’m not sure I can do any more to get access … So I’ve switched fire onto speaking to ministers.”
He also said No 10 chief of staff Stephen Barclay – who has a co-ordination role on the small boats crisis at the Cabinet Office – had “declined” a meeting to discuss the small boats issue.
Mr Neal told the cross-bench group of MPs that had seen conditions at detention facilities in Kent, used to process initial asylum claims, that were “not acceptable”.
Asked about the minority of women and children detained alongside men by immigration officials after being taken off small boats, Mr Neal said he found it “concerning”.
“It’s a concern that we have because of the vulnerability issues in relation to the mass of people coming across,” he said. “I saw conditions [in the Kent Intake Unit] that, in my judgement, with a reasonable level of experience of detention, were not acceptable.”
He said he had written to Ms Patel about the matter. He also told MPs that the suitability of detention facilities would be covered “in detail” in a report now sent to the home secretary, expected to be published soon.
Children clutching teddy bears were seen being carried ashore at Dover on Tuesday, as the number of migrants who have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year hit 10,000.
The government last month dropped its plan to “push back” small boats carrying migrants towards France shortly before the plan was due to be challenged in court.
Mr Neal said he had not been able to inspect what, if any, preparation work Border Force had carried out on the proposal to “push back” small boats. “We’ve not inspected the push-back techniques yet,” he said.
Downing Street has insisted that “significant numbers” of Channel crossings are being stopped because of joint working with the French authorities.
Asked whether the plan to send migrants who risk the crossing on a one-way trip to Rwanda is acting as a deterrent, the spokesman said: “The first flights are expected to take place on June 14.”
Some 28,526 people made the crossing in 2021, compared with 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019 and 299 in 2018, official Home Office figures show.
