Equality & Human Rights Committee assessment: Home Office failed to comply with equality law when implementing ‘hostile environment’ policies

Following an assessment of the Home Office’s compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty when implementing ‘hostile environment’ immigration policies, EHRC have found that it failed to fulfil its legal duties. This contributed to the serious injustices experienced by the Windrush generation.

EHRC assessed how and whether the Home Office complied with PSED when developing, implementing and monitoring the hostile environment policy agenda, particularly in considering its impact on Black members of the Windrush generation.

This assessment builds on the work of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review and endorses the Wendy Williams conclusion that the experiences of this group were ‘foreseeable and avoidable’. The assessment found that the negative consequences of hostile environment policies were repeatedly ignored, dismissed, or disregarded. There was limited engagement with representatives of the Windrush generation, even as the severe effects of hostile environment policies began to emerge. Equality impacts were often considered too late to form a meaningful part of many decision-making processes, and there was a general lack of commitment within the Home Office to the importance of equality.

EHRC have grouped their findings and recommendations around three areas where the Home Office should focus its actions to improve:
 

• Understand the potential and actual equality impacts of the hostile environment measures by gathering information

• Act on equality evidence to inform its decisions at each stage of forming, implementing and reviewing policy

• Embed the PSED, including by fully understanding and supporting staff to comply with the Duty, and encouraging effective scrutiny and challenge.