Immigration and Asylum: Appeals

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his Question. In the Government’s Restoring Order and Control Command Paper, which was published on 17 November 2025, we announced systemic reforms to the appeals system. The Government have provided additional funding to the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber to increase capacity, and we remain grateful for the ongoing efforts by the tribunal to clear its backlog. However, its current backlog stands at 151,767, with appeals taking, on average, 61 weeks to resolve across all case types, as of March 2026. The Government will shortly bring forward legislation that will underpin the new independent immigration appeals authority. The new authority will be able to determine appeals in a way that provides justice to appellants, with suitably qualified adjudicators independent of the Executive. Further details of the independent immigration appeals authority will be set out in the near future, including the measures that will be put in place to ensure public confidence in the new authority, as the noble Lord requests.

I am grateful to the Minister for his Answer. What steps will the Government take, through the recruitment and vetting process, to ensure that adjudicators are genuinely independent and impartial, and to guard against the new authority becoming dominated by individuals who have publicly campaigned in favour of open borders or who have otherwise taken partisan positions on immigration policy?

I remind the House that the backlog stands at over 151,000, but that that has not happened in just the last two years. It is the result of 14 years of individuals not being processed, dealt with or sorted by the noble Lord and his party. To answer his question, as of now, we will ensure that individuals are vetted, that there are strong safeguards in place to ensure high standards, and that those making decisions in the independent appeals authority will be entirely independent of the Executive. He will not have to wait too long because, tomorrow, on 30 June, we will publish a Bill setting out the matters that were trailed in the immigration White Paper in November. The noble Lord’s party will have the opportunity to test that Bill through both Houses of Parliament, and I assure him that that independence is critical and will be maintained.

My Lords, there is currently an issue with immigration tribunal judges that will be exacerbated, especially when it comes to public confidence, in that the tribunal judges, and no doubt the adjudicators, are not declaring their interests. We, as parliamentarians, have to declare our financial interests and memberships. It is high time that tribunal judges and adjudicators are made to list their financial interests and any controversial, or even uncontroversial, organisations that they have joined; this would fit within the judicial conduct guidance. At the moment, we do not know whether those judges should be recusing themselves and what interests they have, because they are not declared and they should be on a register, in the same way that ours are.

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for raising that point. If she will allow me, can I reflect on it? The issue is self-evidently important, but I cannot answer her question right now. I will make sure that the appropriate policy Ministers in the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice examine those issues in detail. However, I can tell the noble Baroness that we are doing this because the demand for adjudications is far outstripping what we can currently offer. We have around 26,000 additional funded places for sittings this year, so the backlog of over 151,000, which I mentioned earlier, is simply unsustainable. We have to take action on that. The backlog has not just appeared from nowhere; it has appeared through the inaction of the previous Government. We are committed to restoring it and that is what the Bill to be produced tomorrow will begin the process of doing.

My Lords, following the last question, I declare my interest: I am supported by the RAMP Project. Can the Minister tell us whether the adjudicators will need to possess specific legal qualifications or accreditation in asylum and human rights law? On the process of getting the adjudicators in place, how long will the training programme take?

We are moving at quite a pace. The Bill that establishes the new authority will be published tomorrow and has to make its way through both Houses of Parliament. The principle behind it is that there will be a body that is fully independent of the Government and staffed by professional trained adjudicators, with safeguards to ensure high standards, so that appellants are able to receive impartial and independent redress, as is required under our obligations. We intend still to meet our international obligations as part of this change, which I hope will give comfort to the noble Lord. He will have an opportunity to see the Bill when it is published tomorrow. At some point, this House will have the opportunity to examine it in detail. For the moment, I suggest that he waits for the Bill to be published.

My Lords, I remind the House that there are lawyers on all sides of the House who have spoken on all kinds of immigration measures. Nobody impugns their ability to continue to give legal advice or, indeed, sometimes to sit in judicial office. I agree with my noble friend that there is a crucial need to deal with the backlog. Can he say a little more about the legal qualifications for the new independent adjudicators? That is more important than whether they were once a member of Amnesty International—which, by the way, is a good thing to be.

The Bill will be published tomorrow and will establish the framework for the body and examine in detail the issues my noble friend has raised. My right honourable friend who is dealing with these matters is cognisant of the fact that the independent body will be responsible for monitoring qualifications and standards. I am happy to answer questions on that once the Bill has been published. I am not in the position today to be able to do that.

My Lords, I accept that the Minister is a little frustrated, but this is what happens when you trail things in the media ahead of a Bill being published. He cannot expect people not to have questions. If he does not want questions in advance, he should not do the trailing. In the trailing in the media, it was said that the body the Government are looking to establish will be like the magistracy. The problem in this case is that people often come to asylum decisions with very clear views, either against people claiming asylum or very pro people claiming asylum. If the adjudicators are members of the public, how will the Government guard against them bringing those preconceived ideas to determining these important legal questions?

If the noble Lord, as a past Cabinet Minister, has never trailed anything, I trust that he will stand up now and tell me that that is the case. I rest my case. But he raises an important point. The key issue is that all members of the new independent immigration appeals authority will have the required training. Decision-making expertise to make determinations will be part of that process of skills and experience. The body will be established in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Public Bodies Handbook. We are currently considering accountability and governance structures, including the body’s relationship with Parliament and with the Government. We will safeguard independent decision-making. I return to the trailing: the noble Lord has only 23 hours to wait for the publication of the Bill. I look forward to engaging with him on it in due course.

My Lords, picking up on the point about training, can the Minister tell us what support will be available and what training will be offered to the adjudicators around religious literacy? Decisions regarding people’s cases often hinge on claims of religious persecution and involve people who have deeply traumatic pasts. They must, therefore, be well-informed and accurate.

It is an extremely important point. It is self-evident that we want the individuals who undertake this very serious role to have the required training and support to do it in an effective way. All members of the new independent immigration appeals authority will have the required decision-making expertise to make determinations on appeal cases through a comprehensive training programme and will possess a range of skills and experience. The organisation of that will be down to the new body. The Bill that we are producing tomorrow will establish that body, which is independent of government. The key point I bring the House back to is that we have a backlog of around 151,000. We currently have capacity for around 26,000 extra sittings that we have put in place. It is not possible to end the backlog without significant changes and that is the purpose of this policy.

My Lords, I quite understand that the Minister cannot give us the details until the Bill is published tomorrow, but he will know that we currently have a body of independent impartial adjudicators who deal with immigration matters. Of course, I understand that we need more of them to deal with the backlog and the delay, but what I do not understand is why, in principle, the Government think that the current arrangements for the appointment of adjudicators are inadequate.

I pay tribute to those who are doing this difficult and challenging job. We owe them a debt of support, and this is not critical of the way in which they have approached their role. But given the level of training and support required, and that the time that we can give to get additional judges is not sufficient to be able to meet the objective, we are looking at widening the pool and this is the start of that process. The establishment of the new body will put that revised process in place. We ran a targeted call for evidence from March to May this year and sought input from individuals. We have ensured that the judiciary has been kept fully informed of relevant developments and communications. I am hoping that once the Bill is produced and when it reaches this House—because it will be in the House of Commons first—the noble Lord can put some of those issues to the test.

My Lords—

My Lords—

It is the turn of the Labour Benches next, then the Conservative Benches.

My Lords, as my noble friend knows, in my advancing years I have become more understanding, particularly of those who find themselves, sadly, in opposition. The Front-Bencher opposite clearly got up early this morning to put in this PNQ so that he could have a go and attack the Government. Can my noble friend say what positive proposals the Opposition have put forward for reducing the huge backlog that they created?

I try to be fair when dealing with the Opposition—if possible. In the years up to the general election in 2024, they suppressed the number of activities taking place in this field, they reduced the number of appeals being brought forward, they took action which did not address the backlog, and every action they took created a further backlog, so the 151,000-plus backlog that we have now is entirely the responsibility of the previous Government, including, potentially, the next speaker, who was a Minister in the Home Office. I presume that when he stands up, his first question will be: how do I apologise for the backlog?

We have a backlog of 151,000 cases. Will the Minister tell us whether it is the plan to transfer the backlog from the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber to the new independent authority that is being set up under the Bill? If it is not the proposal to transfer the backlog to the new authority, on the current rate of case resolution, the First-tier Tribunal will still be hearing cases into the 2040s.

The noble Lord has detailed knowledge of this matter because he was responsible for the policies that led to the backlog in the first place. The Bill tomorrow will establish a new body. We are looking at how we merge the new body. There will be a parallel operation for some considerable time, but the purpose of the Bill that will be published tomorrow is to establish a new framework to ensure that the backlog built up when he was a Minister is eradicated. That is the policy objective of the Government.

If I may add to the questions on training, will the new people working have some training on genuine cases of modern slavery and human trafficking?

Again, self-evidently, it is important that individuals who make determinations about life-changing matters have the support to understand the reasons why those decisions have to be taken, and the mechanisms of training and support that are required to do that. The noble and learned Baroness raises important points about modern slavery and our international obligations. That is for the Government to determine. I am in the difficult position of not having the Bill until tomorrow, but within it the opportunity for the successor body to develop the types of policies that she has mentioned is one that I would wish to see and encourage.