UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Home Office was forced to pay out more than £10 million (A$18.3 million) in compensation payments last year, mostly to people it had wrongly detained.
The Department compensated 312 people it had wrongfully detained — 100 more than in 2017–18, according to its annual report.
Total compensation for wrongful detention came to £8.2 million (A$15 million) — up from £5.1 million (A$9.3 million) the previous year.
The Home Office also made £36.4 million (A$66.7 million) in so-called special payments last year — those that Parliament could not have anticipated when passing legislation or approving Departmental budget estimates.
This included a £1.1 million (A$2 million) settlement in a discrimination case completed in March after a seven-year legal battle.
The Department also lost £2.5 million (A$4.6 million) in so-called fruitless payments.
Cancelled flights accounted for most of the figure, including flights that had been scheduled to deport people who had been granted the right to appeal.
The report also revealed a spike in the Department’s reporting of data breaches.
The Home Office reported 35 data breaches to the Information Commissioner’s Office, up from two the previous year.
It attributed this sharp increase to “greater awareness and vigilance amongst staff”.
However, the report revealed concern about the Home Office’s compliance with data protection regulations.
A section on risks to the Department’s work stressed: “It is essential that we manage those assets properly and do not lose the public’s trust and confidence, in particular by being non-compliant with data protection legislation.”
London, 13 June 2019
