This article is part of LeO News, edition 25.
We’ve recently changed our website to make the information more useful for our customers. We are asking service providers to complete the short survey below to help us improve these pages further. We want to know which resources you are already using and what information and resources you would like us to develop. Please take the time to respond, the closing date for responses is 28 May.
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We have lots of useful learning resources available and some refreshed content, visit our under the spotlight page to find out more.
We have introduced a new step in the early stage of our business process. Once we receive a complaint, but before it is accepted for investigation, we will write to tell you that a complaint has been received. Whilst it is currently taking us a while to assess cases, this letter means that you can be prepared if the case is formally accepted for investigation. It also gives you a chance to revisit the complaint at first tier and see if there are further steps you want to take to resolve it yourself. There are links in the letter to guidance which will help with this.
We have published a report that focuses on the lessons which can be learned from immigration and asylum complaints.
We developed the report to share learning from our work and to assess the extent to which our investigations corroborate research in this area. The report includes case studies about common mistakes made by legal service providers as well as some areas of real concern relating to advice given, payment arrangements and lack of supervision.
While the number of complaints we investigate in relation to immigration are small in number, the consequences, when things go wrong, can be far-reaching. A seemingly small oversight on a legal service provider’s part such as missing a deadline to submit documents, can result in loss of homes, jobs, and separation from families.
We acknowledge the professionalism of most in the sector and the support they provide to customers going through challenging immigration and asylum situations. However, by highlighting some of the common errors made by legal service providers the aim is to raise awareness of how to avoid these service failings.
View the report here.
Thank you to those who responded to the consultation and provided feedback. The final Business Plan and Budget is now available to read.
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