Dear Home Office,

I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”).

I seek information relating to the Home Office’s decision support tool referred to as the Electronic Monitoring Review Tool (“EMRT”) used to support decision makers in deploying and reviewing Electronic Monitoring immigration bail conditions in accordance with automated business rules.

Please provide us with the following information and/or documentation clarifying your response provided on 23 April 2024 further to FOI request FOI2024/02343:

1. Clarification as to whether the EMRT is used in all electronic monitoring reviews and if this is not the case the circumstances in which a review will be conducted without using the tool. Please also provide any unpublished policies, internal memoranda, guidance, and or training materials provided to decision makers explaining when a decision should be made without using the EMRT. We note that your response to FOI2024/02343 states that: “To answer question 8, page 48 of the Immigration Bail guidance states that “the decision maker may have access to a decision support tool” and “Whilst the decision support tool may be used to support decision making a decision may be made without using this tool and relying on the guidance set out in EM and linked Supplementary Conditions: review.” By contrast, your response to FOI request 75193 dated 5 April 2023 (see https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...) states that the “EMRT is used to assist all reviews for individuals with an electronic monitoring condition”.

2. Clarification as regards the date (i.e. month and year) from which the EMRT was first used in relation to decisions and reviews relating to the deployment of Electronic Monitoring immigration bail conditions. In this regard, we note that your response to FOI2024/02343 states that: “No decision support tool is in use at present and reviews are conducted manually.” This is in direct contrast to your response to FOI request 75193 in which you state that “the EMRT was first used to provide decision recommendations from the week commencing 7 November 2022” and as above that the tool is being in used in relation to all reviews. In the event that the deployment of the EMRT was paused - please specify the periods in question and associated reasons for any pause(s) in the use of the tool.

3. Clarification as regards which electronic monitoring decisions are made using the EMRT. In this regard, we note that the Immigration Bail policy states that a decision support tool may make a recommendation in respect of “whether a non-detained person is suitable for electronic monitoring” and “whether it is appropriate to consider moving an electronically monitored person between a fitted device, a non-fitted device (NFD) and no device” (page 49). By contrast, the internal EM review tool training materials provided in response to FOI2024/02343 (referred to as Annex E in your response) indicates that the decision recommendations generated via the Excel Review Form either correspond to a decision to maintain EM via a fitted device (displayed via a red box) or to transition from a fitted to a non-fitted device (displayed via a green box). Please therefore confirm whether the EMRT is only used in relation to decisions as to whether to maintain a fitted device or ‘de-escalate’ to an NFD. To the extent that the EMRT is deployed in relation to other electronic monitoring decisions (for example whether or not to impose electronic monitoring on a non-detained individual or whether to cease monitoring altogether) please specify which decisions.

4. In the event that a distinct decision-making support tool is deployed in relation to decisions whether to impose electronic monitoring on a non-detained individual (for example the IPIC tool referred to here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...) please confirm its role and existence.

5. Clarification as regards the relationship between the two decision recommendations cited at question 3 above (i.e. those displayed via a green or red highlighted box) and the EMRT’s harm score referenced at page 53-54 of the Immigration Bail policy. Please in particular confirm whether: (a) the harm score is inputted into the EMRT before it generates one of the two recommendation decisions cited at question 3 above; or (b) whether the score is generated as a separate output by the EMRT, which is then used by a caseworker assessing the recommendation produced by the tool as well as whether to cease electronic monitoring altogether.

6. Please confirm whether the EMRT is only deployed in relation to the quarterly electronic monitoring reviews. If the answer is that the tool is deployed in relation to other reviews required by the Immigration Bail policy (i.e. in response to a breach of immigration bail or representations by a legal representative) please specify which other categories of electronic monitoring review.

7. The weightings the EMRT attributes to the EMRT’s “key structured data” referred to on page 49 of the Immigration Bail policy (for example an individual’s compliance with immigration bail) as well as the harm score (in the event that this also constitutes input data – see question 5 above).

We remind you of your obligations under Section 16 FOIA to assist and advise requesters. If providing the requested information would trigger the cost exemption, please let us know as soon as possible and we will refine our request. Likewise, if our request is unclear, please contact us. If any of the requested information is already in the public domain, please direct us to it, with page references and URLs where appropriate.

If you redact exempted information in documents, we ask you to show where redactions have been made and justify those redactions. We remind you that the time taken for redactions does not usually contribute towards the cost cap under FOIA. You are required to respond to this request within 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Privacy International

Dear IE PQs, FOIs and Correspondence,

We write further to our FOI request submitted on 26 July 2024 (FOI2024/06268) and your partial response of 22 August 2024 (received on 29 August 2024).

We note that you only provided a response in relation to question 2 of the our request. As such, we request the remainder of the clarifications and information sought, which should have been providing notwithstanding the fact that the tool is currently not in operational use.

This should include confirmation (as sought at question 4) as regards the existence and role of any other decision streaming or support tools in use relating to the imposition of Electronic Monitoring conditions on those subject to immigration bail. We note in this regard that the Immigration Bail (Version 19 and dated 14 March 2024) continues to state that the decision maker may have access to a decision support tool which utilises automated business rules to provide decision recommendations for the decision maker in relation to decisions as to whether to impose electronic monitoring on a non-detained individual or whether they should be moved between a fitted device, non-fitted device, or no device.

Yours sincerely,

Privacy International