Is the Home Office the right department to manage immigration after Brexit? The respected Institute for Government (IfG) thinks not. In fact, the IfG believes the Home Office is so ham-fisted when it comes to immigration that it not only screws up the public sector’s capability to attract key staff in the care and health sectors among others, but also compromises the Government’s integration agenda.

In its report last week the IfG stated: ‘Settlement and naturalisation are an important tool for integration. By placing barriers to citizenship for many who cannot afford it, the Government is simply converting a funding question for the Home Office into a policy issue for the integration teams in the MHCLG [the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government].’