18,000 Home Office immigration staff still haven’t done Windrush training
It is six years since the department accepted a recommendation from the Windrush Lessons Learned review that ‘all immigration officials’ be trained
Barely half of immigration staff at the Home Office have completed equality and human rights training, six years after the department accepted a recommendation from the Windrush Lessons Learned review that “all immigration and policy officials” do so.
The independent review by Wendy Williams was published in March 2020 and assessed the events leading up to the Windrush scandal, which saw at least 164 Caribbean and Commonwealth citizens deported or detained, and thousands more denied services and legal rights.
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Apsana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, was among 25 MPs who wrote to the then home secretary Yvette Cooper in 2024 after an independent report into the Windrush scandal highlighted that three decades of British immigration legislation had been designed “to reduce the number of people with black or brown skin who were permitted to live and work in the UK”. She told Hyphen: “It is clear that the lessons are not being learned fast enough. Training for all immigration and policy officials was a clear recommendation from the review.”
She added that the numbers are a “disappointing and concerning” signal that “the hostile environment and the experiences of racism that it perpetuates, remains very much entrenched”.
While the Lessons Learned review was unable to make a definitive finding of institutional racism within the Home Office, it concluded that the department’s failings demonstrated “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation”. The report made 30 recommendations aimed at reforming the Home Office’s culture and decision making.
Recommendation 12 said that the department should “embark on a structured programme of learning and development for all immigration and policy officials and senior civil servants” in relation to the Equality Act 2010, the public sector equality duty (PSED) — a legal obligation requiring public bodies to consider the risk of discrimination when making decisions — and its obligations to respect human rights. It also said the department should publish annual details of the courses attended and how many people had completed them.
The Home Office publishes annual data on its PSED training. Latest figures covering the 2024-25 financial year show that the training is mandatory for senior civil servants and Grade 6 staff — senior managers who lead teams and respond to policy changes — but not for more junior employees.
According to the most recent published data, 23,416 staff in the Migration and Borders group were trained, out of a total workforce of 42,145 — around 56%.
Training completion rates vary by seniority. Across the Home Office, 76% of senior civil servants and 68% of Grade 6 staff are recorded as being trained. But for staff below Grade 6 — such as caseworkers and team leaders responsible for the development of policies — the number falls to 50%.
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For these grades, the Home Office says the training is not mandatory but “highly recommended”. But recommendation 12 of the Windrush Lessons Learned review, which the government accepted, did not distinguish between grades when referring to “all immigration and policy officials”.
The review concluded that staff required a stronger understanding of equality law and government’s obligations to prevent similar failings.
Labour MP for Bradford East, Imran Hussain — one of those who signed the letter to the former home secretary in 2024 — echoed this. “The Windrush scandal exposed deep and painful injustices that must never be repeated,” he told Hyphen. “The findings of this report are serious and deserve careful consideration.
“It is vital that we continue strengthening safeguards, training and accountability within the Home Office to ensure fairness and respect for everyone affected by immigration policy.”
In response to questions from Hyphen, the Home Office said it believed it had complied with the review’s recommendation on the basis that its “structured programme of training and development” was “available” to all staff.
A spokesperson said: “There is a high level of engagement with the training programme, and we regularly monitor training completion rates.”
The Home Office said PSED training was available to all its staff both in e-learning format and via trainer-led sessions, including workshops targeted at policy professionals of all grades. It added that there is “an expectation that all staff will complete the relevant training for their role”.
