Home Office


The Home Office, also known as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigration, passports, and civil registration.
Agencies under its purview include police in England and Wales, Border Force, the Visas and Immigration authority, and the Security Service. It also manages policy on drugs, counterterrorism, and immigration. It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
The Cabinet minister responsible for the department is the home secretary, a post considered one of the Great Offices of State; it has been held by Shabana Mahmood since September 2025. The Home Office is managed from day to day by a civil servant, the permanent under-secretary of state of the home office.
The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office are scrutinised by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

History

On, the Home Office was formed by renaming the existing Southern Department, with all existing staff transferring. On the same day, the Northern Department was renamed the Foreign Office.
To match the new names, there was a transferring of responsibilities between the two Departments of State. All domestic responsibilities were moved to the Home Office, and all foreign matters became the concern of the Foreign Office.
Most subsequently created domestic departments have been formed by splitting responsibilities away from the Home Office.
The initial responsibilities were:
  • Answering petitions and addresses sent to the King
  • Advising the King on
  • *Royal grants
  • *Warrants and commissions
  • *The exercise of Royal Prerogative
  • Issuing instructions on behalf of the King to officers of The Crown, lords-lieutenant and magistrates, mainly concerning law and order
  • Operation of the secret service within the UK
  • Protecting the public
  • Safeguarding the rights and liberties of individuals
  • Colonial matters
Responsibilities were subsequently changed over the years that followed:
The Home Office is headed by the home secretary, a Cabinet minister, supported by the department's senior civil servant, the permanent secretary.

Organisational structure

The Home Office comprises eleven directorates that help fulfil the department's responsibilities.

Immigration

As of April 2024, the Home Office works with the following agencies and public bodies:

Executive non-departmental public bodies

  • Disclosure and Barring Service
  • Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
  • Independent Office for Police Conduct
  • Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner
  • Security Industry Authority

    Advisory non-departmental public bodies

  • Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
  • Animals in Science Committee
  • Biometrics and Forensic Ethics Group
  • Migration Advisory Committee
  • Police Advisory Board for England and Wales
  • Police Remuneration Review Body
  • Technical Advisory Board

    Tribunals

  • Investigatory Powers Tribunal
  • Police Discipline Appeals Tribunal

    Independent monitoring bodies

  • Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner
  • Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
  • Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

    Others

  • Adjudicator's Office
  • College of Policing
  • Commission for Countering Extremism
  • Forensic Science Regulator
  • His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
  • Independent Family Returns Panel
  • Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
  • Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office
  • National Counter Terrorism Security Office
  • National Crime Agency Renumeration Review Body
  • Security Service

    Budget and spending

In the financial year 2022–2023, the Home Office had a total budget of £20.3 billion.

Ministers

The Home Office ministers are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold.
MinisterPortraitOfficePortfolio
Shabana Mahmood MPSecretary of State for the Home DepartmentOverall responsibility for all Home Office business, including: overarching responsibility for the departmental portfolio and oversight of the ministerial team; cabinet; National Security Council ; public appointments; oversight of the Security Service
Dan Jarvis MPMinister of State for SecurityCounter terrorism and extremism; state threats; cyber security and crime; serious and organised crime; oversight of the National Crime Agency; anti-corruption; economic crime
David Hanson, Baron Hanson of Flint
Life peer		Minister of State for the Home DepartmentFraud; departmental finance; Home Office business in the Lords; Overseas Territories; public appointments and sponsorship; inquiries; union and devolution
Sarah Jones MPMinister of State for Policing and CrimePolicing standards and governance, neighbourhood policing, public order, major events, and civil contingencies, criminal justice system, Young Futures, Safer Streets
Alex Norris MPMinister of State for Border Security and AsylumBorder Security Command; asylum policy; asylum accommodation; returns and removals; irregular migration policy; organised immigration crime; foreign national offenders; Immigration Enforcement; small boat arrivals; National Referral Mechanism
Jess Phillips MPParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and GirlsViolence against women and girls; safeguarding; rape and serious sexual offences; violent crime and domestic abuse; child sexual abuse and exploitation; modern slavery; spiking
Mike Tapp MPParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and CitizenshipLegal migration policy; Immigration Rules and visa policy; Windrush Compensation Scheme; Future Borders and Immigration System; HM Passport Office; General Register Office; Border Force operation; safe and legal routes and resettlement