- Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to unveil plans for a new independent body, the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority, to decide asylum appeals instead of immigration judges.
- This new body will comprise professionally trained adjudicators from diverse backgrounds, similar to magistrates, with the aim of speeding up the appeals process and increasing capacity from late 2027.
- The reforms, to be introduced in the Immigration and Asylum Bill, will also create a 'single route' to prevent migrants from lodging multiple appeals or new claims after an initial rejection.
- The home secretary pledged the removal of 45,000 failed claimants and foreign offenders, stating the current appeals tribunal is overwhelmed by 'vexatious appeals'.
- To facilitate these removals, two immigration removal centres, Campsfield and Haslar, are being expanded to significantly increase bed spaces.
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