Home Office Pays Out £21m After Mistakenly Detaining 850 People

The Home Office mistakenly detained more than 850 people between 2012 and 2017, some of whom were living in the UK legally, and the government was forced to pay out more than £21m in compensation as a result, officials have revealed. Figures released to the home affairs select committee this week show there were 171 cases of wrongful immigration detention in 2015-16, triggering compensation payments totalling £4.1m, and 143 cases in 2016–17, triggering a further £3.3m in compensation.  Between 2012 and 2015 a total of £13.8m was paid out to more than 550 people after a period of unlawful immigration detention. The document also reveals that bonuses were paid to both senior and junior Home Office staff according to whether targets for enforced removals from the country had been met. Some staff were set “personal objectives” on which bonus payments were made “linked to targets to achieve enforced removals”.

Read more: Amelia Gentleman, Guardian, https://is.gd/lbDUih