Top candidate for borders watchdog would commute from Finland
John Tuckett, who has worked as the immigration services commissioner for six
years, has told MPs he currently travels to the UK for work when he needs to.
Wednesday 12 February 2025 00:34, UK
The government’s top candidate to become the chief of the borders and
immigration watchdog has told MPs he lives in Finland and commutes to the UK
when he needs to.
John Tuckett, who has worked as the immigration services commissioner for six
years, was questioned by the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday ahead of
the appointment of the next independent chief inspector of borders and
immigration (ICIBI).
Asked if he lives in commuting distance from the London office, he replied: “No
I don’t, I have a family home in Finland and I come across to this country
whenever I need to.”
When MPs put it to him that he would expect to inspect the UK’s borders without
being a resident here, he added: “I work in UK and I would be in the UK, I’m
resident in Finland.”
Mr Tuckett told the committee he pays for travel and accommodation himself and
“always have done”.
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He also said he would be fine to work five days in the office if needed, adding:
“I have done this kind of work before, and when I was asked this question at my
interview, I said, I think that my judgment is you need time when you’re
available for ministers, visits, all the things where you need to do face to
face.
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“You also need time where you can think, sit back, write, because you don’t
write a report, you know, in 10 spare minutes in between two major appointments.
So I think there’s a 60-40, split between for the chief inspector this is.!
Mr Tuckett was announced as the preferred applicant for the chief inspector
position by the Home Office in January, with previous experience as the chief
executive of the Marine Management Organisation and working for the Archbishop
of York.
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Announcing the recommendation of Mr Tuckett for the role, migration minister
Seema Malhotra said: “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.”
If Mr Tuckett is confirmed as the next inspector, he will replace interim
watchdog boss David Bolt – who has served since June last year.
Mr Bolt’s appointment came after the previous borders watchdog David Neal was
sacked in February
[https://news.sky.com/story/home-office-fires-chief-inspector-of-borders-and-immigration-david-neal-13076361]
last year amid claims he breached the terms of his appointment.
He later voiced his frustrations of the time taken for his reports to be
published, and said there were “very few” ways of speaking out about his
concerns on security.
