Call for Evidence: An inspection of the treatment of children within the migration and borders system

In line with his 2026–27 Inspection Plan, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has commenced an inspection of the Home Office’s child safeguarding arrangements.  

This inspection will examine the effectiveness and consistency of the child safeguarding arrangements across the migration and borders system, with particular reference to: 

a) initial encounters of children at the border 

b) management of referrals to the Home Office of children in-country, and onward referrals to statutory agencies 

c) the sharing of safeguarding information; both within the Home Office, and with external stakeholders 

To gain a cross-system view, inspectors are particularly interested in evidence relating to the safeguarding arrangements for the following cohorts: 

children arriving at an airport, seaport or by small boat  

young people who raise age disputes within an Immigration Removal Centre   

children who are encountered through Immigration Enforcement activity  

Only evidence that specifically relates to the above points will be used. While inspectors consider all submissions carefully, and they provide valuable insight to inform inspection findings, due to the current shorter format of inspections your contribution may not be directly cited in the final report.   

The Independent Chief Inspector would be pleased to hear both what is working well and what could be improved. The ICIBI Inspection Framework will be used to assess the Home Office in this inspection.

This call for evidence will remain open until 23:59 on 15 October 2026. 

Please click here to email your submission to the Independent Chief Inspector. 

Please note: The ICIBI’s statutory remit does not extend to investigating or making decisions about individual cases. This remains a Home Office responsibility. However, the Independent Chief Inspector can take an interest in individual cases to the extent that they illustrate or point to systemic problems.