Justice & Home Affairs

HM Passport Office will be abolished and its operations absorbed by the Home Office from 1 October, it has been announced today, and the organisation’s chief executive Paul Pugh will be replaced by a newly-appointed director general.

Former UK Border Agency chief executive Rob Whiteman writes about the challenges and frustrations of heading up, and ultimately dismantling, the organisation

The Ministry of Justice has been served a penalty of £180,000 by the ICO today for losing sensitive data.

Uniquely, the Home Office has kept National Archives assessors at bay. Samera Owusu Tutu hears the TNA bid for access.

A civil servant in our courts service says we must invest money in order to save it

The Public Accounts Committee has warned of “evident risks” arising from the scale and pace of planned reforms to the probation system. 

Government’s proposed reforms to the judicial review process lack evidence and would limit access to justice, according to a report published today by the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

Outsourcing giant G4S has been cleared to bid for government contracts after it was barred from doing so earlier this year following an over-charging scandal.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling’s ambitious probation outsourcing is being pushed through at breakneck pace. But many criminal justice professionals remain unconvinced that the changes have been properly tested and planned

Improved auditing could lead to a rise in recorded crime statistics, according to Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority.

The government is to hand additional powers to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to oversee departments’ contract management plans and “step in” when it sees fit, after it accepted all recommendations made by chief procurement officer Bill Crothers in a review of major government contracts.

The Home Affairs select committee is today calling on the home secretary to rethink her decision to ban khat – a plant which has a stimulant effect when chewed – and warns that the decision has “not been taken on the basis of evidence or consultation”.