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Original poster

Immigration - wanting some stats

134 replies

ITSJUSTBRIDGET · 12/08/2025 20:08

I’m so so sick of the immigration media headlines

the attached shows the immigration backlog since 1990. I’m wanting to add in the number or home office immigration staff into the graph

how did we go from a low of around 3000 in 2005 to this years figure of 91,000

ive googled home office staff in 2010 which had a total of 28,423 staff

2010, the Home Office had a total of 2811 payroll staff. This figure represents the total number of employees within Additionally, the wider Home Office group included other agencies like the Criminal Records Bureau with 668 staff, the Identity & Passport Service with 3944 staff, and the UK Border Agency with 21752 staff.

At the end of March 2024, the Home Office employed over 51,000 people in a wide range of roles, across the UK and overseas

So to summarise 2010 there were around 28k staff with a backlog of around 4000 migrants/asylum seekers

today - we have a backlog of 91000 applications with a total number of home office staff at 51000

can anyone help me out with this logic?

TO BE VERY CLEAR, I AM NOT A EXTREME RIGHT WING VOTER, I’M FOCUSED ON WHY OUR GOVERNMENT HAS NOT/IS NOT SEEMINGLY ABLE TO DEAL WITH THE BACKLOG WHICH IS NOT FAIR ON ANYONE

Immigration - wanting some stats
OP posts:
Someiremember · 14/08/2025 15:58

Lifeinthepit · 14/08/2025 15:54

Oh of course it's bloody true! Honestly..how ridiculous to even suggest it isnt. Labour and the Conservatives before them are under huge political pressure to.clear the backlog. HR lawyers are slowing any attempt at deportation down massively thus preventing the backlog to be cleared. Far easier to just let them in.

what source of news do you refer to generally?

PandoraSocks · 14/08/2025 15:57

Lifeinthepit · 14/08/2025 15:54

Oh of course it's bloody true! Honestly..how ridiculous to even suggest it isnt. Labour and the Conservatives before them are under huge political pressure to.clear the backlog. HR lawyers are slowing any attempt at deportation down massively thus preventing the backlog to be cleared. Far easier to just let them in.

Do you work at the HO?

Lifeinthepit · 14/08/2025 15:54

Oh of course it's bloody true! Honestly..how ridiculous to even suggest it isnt. Labour and the Conservatives before them are under huge political pressure to.clear the backlog. HR lawyers are slowing any attempt at deportation down massively thus preventing the backlog to be cleared. Far easier to just let them in.

TooTedious · 14/08/2025 15:51

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 14:30

“might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.”

who ever thought this about the civil service 🙈😭

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Out of curiosity, what industry do you work in?

TooTedious · 14/08/2025 15:50

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:28

It wasn’t exactly a burning issue for me. This thread did make me remember it.

It still leaves me with a lasting impression that the civil service is a bit self-serving and might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.

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Would you be willing to explain to me exactly what left you with that lasting impression? His comments?

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:57

Getting back to the topic….yes, a dearth of statistics and facts will always create distrust and a vacuum that will be filled with rumour and speculation.

Not without cause. Donald Trump in America is firing statisticians and suppressing information that doesn’t support his agenda. He’s not the first leader with authoritarian tendencies to do this.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/02/republicans-trump-bureau-of-labor-statistics-commissioner

Republicans slam Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics chief

President claimed that recently released figures showing jobs slowdown were ‘rigged’ to make him look bad

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/02/republicans-trump-bureau-of-labor-statistics-commissioner

PandoraSocks · 14/08/2025 14:57

EmpressoftheMundane · 13/08/2025 08:19

Anecdotally, at the tail end of the pandemic, I was in a restaurant earwigging a young man explaining to his father in law that the UK is just waving applications through to clear the backlog because our internal rules make it so difficult to say no. He worked in the civil service reviewing applications. He remarked that our approval rate is six times that of France.

Now obviously, I was eavesdropping on an unverified stranger. But, if there is any truth to it, we have made ourselves a soft option. This will only turn around if we sort out our administration, including laws.

Wow. You got a lot of information about this chap, his work and his relationships from eavesdropping.

I am surprised he wasn't worried about revealing too much and straying into breaking the OSA.

I can imagine him having that sort of conversation in private over the dinner table at home, but not in public, loud enough to be overheard.

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:38

But yes… I’m guessing Reform

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:38

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:36

I think you are over focusing on a petty side anecdote. I wonder if it os because the main argument on this thread isn’t going to your liking?

You write a long post about something you’d heard 4 years ago

Obviously rather compelling to you

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:36

I think you are over focusing on a petty side anecdote. I wonder if it os because the main argument on this thread isn’t going to your liking?

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:32

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 14:30

“might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.”

who ever thought this about the civil service 🙈😭

Show quote history

But built upon a chat this poster overheard in a restaurant of a chap clearly talking out of his arsehole to his FIL!

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:30

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:28

It wasn’t exactly a burning issue for me. This thread did make me remember it.

It still leaves me with a lasting impression that the civil service is a bit self-serving and might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.

Show quote history

Why? Based on a chat you overheard years ago?

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 14:30

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:28

It wasn’t exactly a burning issue for me. This thread did make me remember it.

It still leaves me with a lasting impression that the civil service is a bit self-serving and might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.

Show quote history

“might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.”

who ever thought this about the civil service 🙈😭

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:28

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:09

So for years up until this thread…. You didn’t think it was nonsense?

Show quote history

It wasn’t exactly a burning issue for me. This thread did make me remember it.

It still leaves me with a lasting impression that the civil service is a bit self-serving and might not be as diligent and competent as we would like to think.

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:09

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:04

Folks on this thread have provided, objective, verifiable evidence to the contrary. That’s good enough for me.

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So for years up until this thread…. You didn’t think it was nonsense?

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 14:07

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:04

Folks on this thread have provided, objective, verifiable evidence to the contrary. That’s good enough for me.

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Let me guess… you are very much open to Reform?

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 14:04

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 13:39

That’s a relief

and presumably you know there’s no “truth to it? 🤞

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Folks on this thread have provided, objective, verifiable evidence to the contrary. That’s good enough for me.

Someiremember · 14/08/2025 13:39

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 11:40

Don’t fret. You are the first, and better info has been on this thread. I don’t talk politics in real life.

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That’s a relief

and presumably you know there’s no “truth to it? 🤞

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 13:06

OverlyFragrant · 14/08/2025 12:39

Yes they can and yes they do.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/MigObs-Briefing-Student-migration-to-the-UK-2024.pdf

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This has been restricted following changes from Jan 2024. This is where the overseas student crisis that has fit university finances has come from. Sorry you’re right to say it’s possible but it’s not the route to live in the uk that it was previously.

MrsSkylerWhite · 14/08/2025 12:43

Someiremember · 13/08/2025 09:19

He was showing off to his FIL that he had insider information that was in fact… fiction

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Yep. Wouldn’t believe that for a second.

TooTedious · 14/08/2025 12:40

EmpressoftheMundane · 14/08/2025 11:40

Don’t fret. You are the first, and better info has been on this thread. I don’t talk politics in real life.

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It’s not just you though. I’m quite sure you’ve got the critical thinking skills to understand that what he said might not be entirely accurate, but how many other people has he said it to who’ll just assume that it must be true if he works for the HO? How many other people have over heard him saying it? And how many people has his FiL said ‘My SiL works for the HO and says…’ to, who will have taken it as gospel and will now firmly believe it?

I cannot express enough how untrue it is.

OverlyFragrant · 14/08/2025 12:39

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 12:34

Students can’t bring their family on their student visa.

Yes they can and yes they do.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/MigObs-Briefing-Student-migration-to-the-UK-2024.pdf

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/MigObs-Briefing-Student-migration-to-the-UK-2024.pdf

Bambamhoohoo · 14/08/2025 12:34

Students can’t bring their family on their student visa.

OverlyFragrant · 14/08/2025 12:31

titchy · 14/08/2025 12:30

Confused Most are…. The vast majority are here legally, students, skilled workers etc. How on earth can they not be good for the economy?

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Because they cost more than they put into the economy.
It's not just the student, its their children, and dependants, requiring schooling, healthcare, housing etc.

It's really not that hard to understand.

titchy · 14/08/2025 12:30

strawberrybubblegum · 14/08/2025 10:16

Probably about as many as bought the soundbite 'immigrants are good for the economy' without applying any critical thought or recognising that some immigrants are, some aren't, and it's not impossible to tell the difference when deciding on immigration strategy...

Edited
Show quote history

Confused Most are…. The vast majority are here legally, students, skilled workers etc. How on earth can they not be good for the economy?