John Tuckett has been named as the government’s preferred candidate to become the next independent chief inspector of borders and immigration.
Tuckett has served as the immigration services commissioner – another immigration-focused watchdog job – since July 2019 and was only recently reappointed to the role for a second five-year term.
The ICIBI role became vacant in February when then-home secretary James Cleverly sacked David Neal over comments he made in the press about border security.
It has been temporarily filled by David Bolt, who was ICIBI from 2015 to 2021, during the Home Office’s searches for a permanent replacement.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, confirmed Tuckett as her preferred candidate for the role yesterday.
Commenting on the reasons for the choice, Seema Malhotra, the minister for migration and citizenship, said Tuckett “brings exceptional experience in public service leadership and organisational transformation, which will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our borders and immigration system”.
She added: “His track record of delivering complex change programmes across government, combined with his current role as immigration services commissioner, makes him ideally suited to take on this crucial independent oversight role at an important time for our border security.”
Tuckett has held senior positions across various government departments. At the Home Office, he led the programme merging the Prison and Probation Services; at the MoD, he led a major change programme across all Defence Medical Services; and at the Treasury, he spent five years leading reviews into many of the government’s largest and most complex change programmes, advising on how delivery and outcomes could be improved.
Before becoming the immigration services commissioner in 2019, he was chief executive of the Marine Management Organisation, having begun his career in the Royal Navy as an executive officer specialising in submarine command.
ICIBI is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the efficiency and effectiveness of the UK’s border, immigration and citizenship system, writing reports to the home secretary with recommendations for improvement.
The Home Office said Tuckett was selected following a fair and open recruitment process, conducted in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Under the code, will be scrutinised by the Home Affairs Select Committee, which will publish its recommendations for ministers to consider before deciding whether to finalise the appointment.