Home Office

Home Office
Headquarters at 2 Marsham Street, Westminster
Department overview
Formed27 March 1782; 244 years ago (1782-03-27)
Preceding Department
JurisdictionGovernment of the United Kingdom
Headquarters
Annual budget£20.3 billion (2022–2023)
Secretary of State responsible
Department executive
Websitegov.uk/home-office

The Home Office, formally the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for national security, public safety, immigration, passports, and civil registration, as well as policing and criminal justice in England and Wales, but not Scotland or Northern Ireland where it is devolved.

The department oversees key areas of domestic policy in England and Wales, including policing, drugs policy, counterterrorism, border security, and immigration. Bodies operating within or alongside the Home Office system include Border Force, UK Visas and Immigration, and the Security Service (MI5). It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, both of which were transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

The department is headed by the home secretary, one of the Great Offices of State. The office has been held by Shabana Mahmood since 5 September 2025, and the department is managed on a day-to-day basis by its permanent secretary.

The Home Office's expenditure, administration, and policy are scrutinised by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

History

The Home Office was established on 27 March 1782 following the reorganisation of the Southern Department, with domestic responsibilities transferred to the new department and foreign affairs assigned to the Foreign Office. From its creation, the Home Office was responsible for a wide range of internal matters, including law and order, royal prerogative functions, and aspects of colonial administration.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the Home Office's functions were gradually transferred to newly created government departments as the scope of the state expanded. Responsibilities relating to health, local government, labour, and agriculture were moved to specialised departments, while the Home Office retained core functions relating to policing, internal security, and immigration.

In 1829, the Home Office oversaw the creation of the Metropolitan Police Service, marking a major development in the organisation of policing in England and Wales. The department also took on responsibilities for prisons, civil registration, and the regulation of explosives and firearms during this period.

Further restructuring took place throughout the 20th century, with responsibilities for areas such as aviation, broadcasting, and local government transferred to other departments. In 2007, significant criminal justice functions, including prisons, probation, and legal affairs, were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Justice.

In the 21st century, the Home Office has focused primarily on policing, border security, immigration, and national security. Responsibilities have continued to evolve, including the transfer of fire and rescue services into and subsequently out of the department, and the expansion of its role in counter-terrorism policy.

Responsibilities

A Home Office Immigration Enforcement vehicle in north London

The Home Office is responsible for domestic policy in England and Wales in areas including policing, public safety, immigration and border control. It also oversees passports, civil registration, and policy relating to counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime, and drugs.

Current responsibilities include:

Organisation

The Home Office is headed by the home secretary, a Cabinet minister, supported by the department's senior civil servant, the permanent secretary.

The Home Office comprises eleven directorates and is supported by a number of agencies and public bodies, along with independent statutory officeholders who provide oversight of its functions.

Public bodies

Entity Type Formed
Adjudicator's Office Public Body 1896
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Public Body 1971
Animals in Science Committee Public Body 2013
Science and Technology Ethics Advisory Committee Public Body 2017
Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Public Body 2012
Border Force Agency 2012
Border Security Command Agency 2024
College of Policing Public Body 2012
Commission for Countering Extremism Public Body 2018
Disclosure and Barring Service Public Body 2012
Forensic Science Regulator Public Body 2008
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority Public Body 2005
HM Passport Office Agency 2006
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Public Body 1856
Immigration Enforcement Agency 2012
Independent Family Returns Panel Public Body 2011
Independent Office for Police Conduct Public Body 2018
Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office Public Body 2016
Investigatory Powers Tribunal Public Body 2000
Migration Advisory Committee Public Body 2007
Security Service Non-Ministerial 1909
National Counter Terrorism Security Office Public Body 2007
National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body Public Body 2013
Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner Public Body 1999
Police Advisory Board for England and Wales Public Body 1978
Police Discipline Appeals Tribunal Public Body 2012
Police Remuneration Review Body Public Body 2014
Security Industry Authority Public Body 2003
Technical Advisory Board Public Body 2000
UK Visas and Immigration Agency 2013

Independent officeholders

Budget and spending

In the financial year 2022–2023, the Home Office had a total budget of £20.3 billion.

Spending by financial year
Directorate 2022–2023
Resource
(£millions)		Capital
(£millions)
Delivery77.83.0
STARS (Science, Technology, Analysis, Research and Strategy)34.643.0
Homeland Security Group1,125.1157.8
Public Safety Group11,204.4225.4
Migration & Borders228.0172.2
Customer Service (UKVI & HMPO)-3,166.387.4
Asylum & Protection4,498.86.9
Borders & Enforcement1,404.8135.4
Corporate Enablers945.637.9
Digital Data & Technology473.040.0
Legal11.1-
Communications8.6-
Arm's Length Bodies99.916.4
Total17,005.3925.4

Ministers

The Home Office ministers are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold.

Minister Portrait Office Portfolio
Shabana Mahmood MP Secretary of State for the Home Department Overall responsibility for all Home Office business, including: overarching responsibility for the departmental portfolio and oversight of the ministerial team; cabinet; National Security Council (NSC); public appointments; oversight of the Security Service
Dan Jarvis MP Minister of State for Security counter terrorism and extremism; state threats; cyber security and crime; serious and organised crime; oversight of the National Crime Agency; international criminality; aviation and maritime security; economic crime (excluding fraud); extradition; exclusions and deprivations; MP security and VIP protection; online safety; anti-corruption. Jointly with Cabinet Office.
David Hanson, Baron Hanson of Flint Minister of State for the Home Office Home Office business in Lords (except migration and borders); fraud and economic crime; anti-corruption; departmental finance; contract management (including asylum accommodation contracts); corporate and delivery; overseas territories; digital and technology (including AI); data and identity; analysis, science and research; animals in Science; public appointments and sponsorship; inquiries; the union and devolution; Home Office interests in free trade agreements
Sarah Jones MP Minister of State for Policing and Crime police accountability and system reform – professional standards, performance, culture; police resourcing and efficiency – neighbourhood policing guarantee, savings, funding; public order, major events, civil contingencies; Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme; criminal justice system; Early intervention and Young Futures; crime prevention: safer streets, including drugs and county lines, alcohol and licensing, anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime, firearms, child criminal exploitation and hate crime.
Anna Turley MP Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Border Security Command: reducing small boat arrivals and organised immigration crime; reducing the asylum caseload, exiting hotels and reducing the supported population; Immigration Enforcement: Increasing returns (including FNOs), immigration detention estate expansion, illegal working; asylum, illegal migration and returns policy, safe and legal policy and refugee resettlement policy; reducing net migration: legal migration policy; tackling visa abuse; innovative solutions; Immigration White Paper implementation; European Entry and Exit System; modern slavery policy as it relates to immigration status
Satvir Kaur MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Safeguarding; rape and serious sexual offences; violent crime and domestic abuse; child sexual abuse and exploitation; violence against women and girls (VAWG); victims; wider modern slavery policy including the national referral mechanism, support and stakeholder engagement; spiking; oversight of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
Ray Collins, Baron Collins of Highbury Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Equalities Minister in the Lords; Lords Minister for Conversion Practices Bill and LGBT+ policy; Special Envoy on LGBT+ rights; Lead for UK’s hosting of the 2027 International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia Forum (IDAHOT+); migration and borders business in the Lords; other matters delegated by Home Secretary and Lords Minister of State
Jo White MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship Immigration Rules; nationality and citizenship policy and operations; economic migration; Windrush; goods; UK Visas and Immigration; HM Passport Office; General Registrar Office; ICIBI; EU Settlement Scheme; Border Force operations; existing safe routes schemes Ukraine schemes, Afghan schemes, Hong Kong BNO, Gaza; European Entry / Exit System; earned settlement reform; Future Borders and Immigration System; Visit Visa policy and tackling visa abuse; youth mobility and free trade agreements

Research

To meet the UK's five-year science and technology strategy, the Home Office sponsors research in police sciences, including:

Devolution

Most front-line law and order policy areas, such as policing and criminal justice, are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and only very partially devolved in Wales. However, a number of reserved and excepted matters remain the responsibility of Westminster, including the following:

In Scotland, the Scottish Government's Justice and Safer Communities Directorates are responsible for devolved justice and home affairs policy, although Scottish Ministers retain some executive responsibilities in areas such as extradition operations, mutual legal assistance, and firearms licensing.

In Northern Ireland, policing and justice are largely devolved to the Department of Justice, while national security remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office.

Criticism

Windrush scandal

The Windrush scandal resulted in some British nationals being wrongly deported, along with a further compensation scheme for those affected, and a wider debate on the Home Office hostile environment policy.[citation needed]

The first allegations about the targeting of pre-1973 Caribbean migrants started in 2013.[citation needed] In 2018, the allegations were put to the Home Secretary in the House of Commons, and resulted in the resignation of the then-Home Secretary. In 2019, the Home Office admitted to multiple breaches of data protection regulations in the handling of its Windrush compensation scheme. The department sent emails to Windrush migrants which revealed the email address of other Windrush migrants to whom the email was sent. The data breach concerned five different emails, each of which was sent to 100 recipients. In April 2019, the Home Office admitted to revealing 240 personal email addresses of EU citizens applying for settled status in the UK. The email addresses of applicants were incorrectly sent to other applicants to the scheme. In response to these incidents, the Home Office pledged to launch an independent review of its data protection compliance.

In 2019, the Court of Appeal issued a judgement which criticised the Home Office's handling of immigration cases. The judges stated that the "general approach [by the home secretary, Sajid Javid] in all earnings discrepancy cases [has been] legally flawed". The judgement relates to the Home Office's interpretation of Section 322(5) of the Immigration Rules.

In November 2020, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a statutory body that investigates breaches of the Equality Act 2010 published a report concluding that the Home Office had a "lack of organisation-wide commitment, including by senior leadership, to the importance of equality and the Home Office's obligations under the equality duty placed on government departments". The report noted that the Home Office's pursuit of the "hostile environment" policy from 2012 onwards "accelerated the impact of decades of complex policy and practice based on a history of white and black immigrants being treated differently". Caroline Waters, the interim chair of the EHRC, described the treatment of Windrush immigrants by the Home Office as a "shameful stain on British history".

Aderonke Apata

Aderonke Apata, a Nigerian LGBT activist, made two asylum claims that were both rejected by the Home Office in 2014 and on 1 April 2015 respectively, due to her previously having been in a relationship with a man and having children with the same man. In 2014, Apata said that she would send an explicit video of herself to the Home Office to prove her sexuality. This resulted in her asylum bid gaining widespread support, with multiple petitions created in response, which gained hundreds of thousands of signatures combined. On 8 August 2017, after a thirteen-year legal battle and after a new appeal from Apata was scheduled for late-July, she was granted refugee status in the United Kingdom by the Home Office.

Use of the Bible for rejecting asylum claims

In March 2019, it was reported that in two unrelated cases, the Home Office denied asylum to converted Christians by misrepresenting certain Bible quotes. In one case, it quoted selected excerpts from the Bible to imply that Christianity is not more peaceful than Islam, the asylum-seeker's original religion. In another incident, an Iranian Christian application for asylum was rejected because her faith was judged as "half-hearted", for she did not believe that Jesus could protect her from the Iranian regime. As criticism grew on social media, the Home Office distanced itself from the decision, though it confirmed the letter was authentic. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that it was "totally unacceptable" for his department to quote the Bible to question an Iranian Christian convert's asylum application, and ordered an urgent investigation into what had happened.

The treatment of Christian asylum-seekers chimes with other incidents in the past, such as the refusal to grant visas to the Archbishop of Mosul to attend the consecration of the UK's first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral.[better source needed] In a 2017 study, the Christian Barnabas Fund found that only 0.2% of all Syrian refugees accepted by the UK were Christians, although Christians accounted for approximately 10% of Syria's pre-war population.

Proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000

In 2025, the Home Office proscribed the group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000, placing it in the same legal category as organisations such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The decision was made following organised protests by Palestine Action, including a high-profile breach at RAF Brize Norton in which activists entered the base and damaged military aircraft, prompting a wider security review by the UK Government. Reports at the time also stated that officials were examining possible links to Iranian support, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Palestine Action denied. Following the proscription, it became a criminal offence to belong to or express support for the group, and, according to The Guardian and the BBC, "thousands" of activists were arrested by police under the new measures, although an exact figure was not publicly specified.

In February 2026, the High Court ruled that the proscription by the Home Office had been "unlawful" and "disproportionate", and the government subsequently indicated that it would appeal the decision on national security grounds, with the ban remaining in force pending the outcome of that appeal.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Home Office annual report and accounts: 2022 to 2023, Home Office, 19 September 2023, ISBN 978-1-5286-4083-1
  2. ↑ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (9 June 2008). "Hansard – Oral Questions to the Home Department – 9 June 2008". Publications.Parliament.uk. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "Secretary of State for the Home Department - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Gareth Davies Appointed as New Home Office Permanent Secretary". GOV.UK. Cabinet Office and Home Office. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Role - Home Affairs Committee". parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2022. The House of Commons appoints the Committee with the task of examining the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies.
  6. ↑ "Teams - Home Office Careers", careers.homeoffice.gov.uk, Home Office, retrieved 13 April 2024
  7. ↑ "Home Office annual report and accounts: 2022 to 2023", GOV.UK, Home Office, 19 September 2023, ISBN 978-1-5286-4083-1
  8. ↑ This article contains OGL licensed text This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: "Our ministers". GOV.UK. Home Office. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  9. ↑ "Secretary of State for the Home Department - GOV.UK". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Minister of State (Minister for Security) - GOV.UK". GOV.UK. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  11. ↑ UK Home Office (11 August 2026), Border Security and Asylum minister Anna Turley visits Blackpool for asylum hotel closure, retrieved 15 August 2026
  12. ↑ "Minister of State (Minister for Border Security and Asylum) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  13. ↑ Burton, Sally (23 July 2026). "New role as Immigration Minister for Bassetlaw MP Jo White". Worksop Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  14. ↑ UK Home Office (26 August 2026), Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Jo White visits Border Security Command in Portsmouth, retrieved 10 September 2026
  15. ↑ "Police Science and Technology Strategy: 2004 – 2009" (PDF). Home Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  16. ↑ "Scotland Act 1998, Schedule 5, Part I". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  17. ↑ "Northern Ireland Act 1998, Schedule 2". Legislation.gov.uk. 4 November 1950. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  18. ↑ "The Assembly - Official Report". Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office. 9 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  19. ↑ "About the NIO". Northern Ireland Office. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  20. ↑ Shaw, Danny (8 April 2019). "Windrush: Home Office admits data breach in compensation scheme". BBC News.
  21. ↑ Hawkins, Ross (11 April 2019). "Brexit: Home Office sorry for EU citizen data breach". BBC News.
  22. ↑ Smith, Beckie (12 April 2019). "Home Office to launch independent review of data protection compliance". Civil Service World.
  23. ↑ Hill, Amelia (16 April 2019). "Court castigates Home Office over misuse of immigration law". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ Parkinson, Justin (25 November 2020). "Windrush generation: UK 'unlawfully ignored' immigration rules warnings". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  25. 1 2 Dugan, Emily (9 June 2014). "Aderonke Apata deportation case: 'If the Home Office doesn't believe I'm gay, I'll send them a video that proves it'". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  26. ↑ Dunt, Ian (3 March 2015). "Can you prove you're gay? Last minute legal battle for lesbian fighting deportation to Nigeria". Politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  27. 1 2 Ashton, Jack (14 August 2017). "Nigerian gay rights activist who judge accused of 'faking' her sexuality wins 13-year legal battle for asylum in UK". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  28. ↑ Dugan, Emily (3 April 2015). "Nigerian gay rights activist has her High Court asylum bid rejected - because judge doesn't believe she is lesbian". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  29. ↑ Cohen, Claire (4 March 2015). "Home Office tells Nigerian asylum seeker: 'You can't be a lesbian, you've got children'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  30. ↑ Taylor, Diane (12 August 2017). "Nigerian gay rights activist wins UK asylum claim after 13-year battle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  31. ↑ Bulman, May (20 March 2019). "Home Office refuses Christian convert asylum by quoting Bible passages that 'prove Christianity is not peaceful'". The Independent. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  32. ↑ Dodd, Liz (27 March 2019). "'Illiterate' Home Office quotes Jesus in asylum rejection letter". The Tablet. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  33. ↑ Schaverien, Anna (21 March 2019). "Rejecting asylum claim, U.K. quotes Bible to say Christianity is not 'peaceful'". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  34. ↑ Adeogun, Eno (2 April 2019). "Home Secretary orders urgent investigation into asylum rejection letter which criticised Bible". Premier Christian News. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  35. ↑ "Britain bans heroic bishops: persecuted Christian leaders from war zones refused entry". Daily Express. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  36. ↑ "UK government discriminates against Christian refugees from Syria". Barnabas Fund. 2 November 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  37. 1 2 "UK protest group Palestine Action denies Iran funding as it faces ban". The Guardian. 24 June 2025.
  38. 1 2 "Home Office ban of Palestine Action ruled unlawful". www.thetimes.com. 13 February 2026.
  39. 1 2 "UK Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful, in humiliating blow for ministers". The Guardian. 13 February 2026.
  40. 1 2 "Home Office allowed to appeal Palestine Action court ruling". www.bbc.com. 25 February 2026.
  41. ↑ "Palestine Action wins High Court challenge over government's terror ban". Sky News.

Further reading