Home Office: the 49,000-FTE machine — now map the systems

🚨 HOME OFFICE — THE ORGANOGRAM REVEALS A 49,000-FTE MACHINE

The Home Office refused a broad Freedom of Information request for its organisational and information-systems map under Section 12. Its own published staffing data now shows the scale of the machine behind borders, asylum, visas, enforcement, intelligence, data and technology.

FOI2026/10173REFUSED UNDER SECTION 1214 AUGUST 2026

What I asked for

  • Organisation structure
  • Information assets
  • Databases and registers
  • Case-management systems
  • Searchable electronic records
  • Responsible business areas
  • Information Asset Owners

“I did not ask for personal records, asylum case files, passwords, operational tactics or sensitive security information. I asked for the accountability map: what systems exist, where they sit, who owns them and what can be searched.”

Verified figures

446
Senior-post records
8,138
Junior staffing rows
8,584
Total published rows
49,085.34
Published FTE across both files
84
Named units in junior staffing data

“Home Office Organogram of Staff Roles & Salaries. Data dated 30 June 2025.”

THE ORGANISATIONAL LAYER

Largest named Home Office units by published FTE

  1. Border Force UK Operations6,643.48 FTE
  2. Asylum and Human Rights5,473.11 FTE
  3. Visa Status and Information Services4,675.41 FTE
  4. Passports, Citizenship and Civil Registration4,054.85 FTE
  5. COSS3,553.30 FTE
  6. Returns2,958.25 FTE
  7. Enforcement, Compliance and Crime2,573.10 FTE
  8. Asylum Support and Dispersal1,250.08 FTE
  9. Border Force Intelligence889.08 FTE

“These figures are published FTE totals associated with named units in the organogram data. They show organisational scale, not personal case files, operational activity, spending or outcomes.”

DATA, DIGITAL, INTELLIGENCE AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Digital, Data and Technology

598 junior staffing records

2,504.28 FTE

Intelligence

200 junior staffing records

1,406.92 FTE

Counter Fraud

38 junior staffing records

195.02 FTE

Knowledge and Information Management

54 junior staffing records

99.44 FTE

Senior information and technology functions

  • Chief Digital, Data & Technology Officer
  • Chief Technology Officer
  • Director Data and Identity
  • Director Analysis and Insight
  • Director National Law Enforcement Data Portfolio
  • Deputy Director, Data Capability Centre
  • Deputy Director, Data and Identity Policy
  • Deputy Director, Immigration System Statistics and Refugees Analysis and Insight
  • Deputy Director, Central Analysis Data Science and Stats Unit
  • Deputy Director, Data & Systems
  • Deputy Director, Data Protection Officer
  • Deputy Director, Chief Information Security Officer

“The organogram shows major functions responsible for data, technology, intelligence, analysis, law-enforcement data, data protection and cybersecurity. It does not reveal the full list of systems they operate, the information assets they own, or what authorised staff can search within each system.”

WHAT THE PUBLIC CAN SEE — AND WHAT IS STILL MISSING

  1. Published structurePartly visible
  2. Business areasPartly visible
  3. Staff and rolesPartly visible
  4. Systems🔒 Needs mapping
  5. Databases and information assets🔒 Needs mapping
  6. Searchable fields🔒 Needs mapping
  7. Reports and statistics🔒 Needs mapping

The key questions

  • What information systems support each area?
  • Which systems hold which information?
  • Which information can authorised staff search?
  • What reports can each system produce?
  • Which business area owns each asset?
  • Who is the Information Asset Owner?
  • Which systems exchange information with one another?

THE SECTION 12 RESPONSE

“The Home Office said identifying every directorate, unit and team would require contacting too many teams and exceed the £600 / 24-hour FOI cost limit.”

“The refusal does not establish that the information does not exist. It says the requested organisational and systems map could not be compiled within the statutory cost limit.”

The Home Office advised that a refined request could focus on its Information Asset Register.

NEXT: THE SYSTEMS LAYER

REQUESTING THE HOME OFFICE INFORMATION ASSET REGISTER

If the full register cannot be disclosed, request a schedule showing:

  • Name of each information asset or system
  • Responsible directorate or business area
  • Information Asset Owner or equivalent job title
  • Purpose of the system
  • Whether it is electronically searchable

“No personal records. No passwords. No security configurations. No sensitive operational detail. Just the basic accountability map.”

THE ORGANISATIONAL LAYER IS NOW VISIBLE.
NEXT: THE SYSTEMS LAYER. 🔎