The Home Office’s top asylum chief has quit amid mounting “chaos and confusion” over rapidly-changing home secretaries, Channel crossings and the troubled Rwanda deal.
Emma Haddad’s post as the director general for asylum and protection has been abolished following her resignation, The Independent can reveal.
Her responsibilities are being handed to the director general for “customer services”, who is also the director general of HM Passport Office and UK Visas and Immigration, and the registrar general for England and Wales.
The reason for Ms Haddad’s resignation has not been made public but a source said it was “clearly not a happy departure”.
Some civil servants are concerned about the loss of her extensive experience amid political turbulence seeing two home secretaries depart in little over a month.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “It has been clear for months that this is a Home Office in special measures.
“Three Tory home secretaries in months, backlogs across the department, asylum decisions halved, millions spent on a failing Rwanda scheme and now the resignation of a top official.
“The Conservatives offer no stability and it puts our country at risk. Home affairs is too important to be faced with such chaos and confusion.”
Ms Haddad, a civil servant for almost two decades, had been made the director general for asylum and protection in February 2021 and was responsible for implementing Priti Patel’s changes to the system, as well as programmes for Ukrainian and Afghan refugees.
Apart from a five-year spell in the Department for Work and Pensions, she has worked in the Home Office since 2009 – mostly in asylum – and previously advised the European Commission on migration and wrote a book on refugee protection.
Ms Haddad’s profile was featured prominently on the Home Office website until 7 October, around a month after Suella Braverman’s arrival.
The Independent understands that Abi Tierney, the director general taking on her responsibilities, is well thought of inside the Home Office.
She joined the civil service from the private sector, most recently Serco Health, in 2020 some civil servants are concerned about her lack of experience in asylum.
A former Home Office mandarin told The Independent that asylum has not historically had a dedicated director general but that the sector had been broken out of wider immigration because of its political significance and the workload generated by Channel crossings.
But he said it had always been separate from the Passport Office because of the different nature of the responsibilities entailed.
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It is not clear whether Ms Haddad’s annual salary, of around £130,000 a year according to Home Office records, will be saved as a result of her departure or whether Ms Tierney’s wage will be raised to reflect her wider role.
Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office permanent secretary, said: “I can confirm that Emma Haddad, director general for asylum and protection, is leaving the Home Office after 18 years in the civil service.
“She has been a dedicated public servant and we thank her for the passion, leadership and integrity she showed throughout her time in the Home Office.
“Abi Tierney, director general for customer services, has taken on Emma’s responsibilities.”
The borders watchdog this week criticised the approach to Channel crossings
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Home Office is in ‘special measures’
