Atlas shrugs: New UK asylum seeker IT system failed to help case workers learn from appeals

public sector

After several delays in development, Atlas went live without functionality Home Office case manager needed, inspectors say

After eight years of development, the UK Home Office’s new system for managing immigration and asylum applications is failing to help the department learn from the politically sensitive appeals process.

According to a report from Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, the number of appeals to decisions on asylum status has rocketed from 8,000 in 2022-23 to well over 29,000 in 2023-24.

However, the new case management system, Atlas, which completed its handover from the legacy Casework Information Database (CID) in 2025, isn't helping case workers learn from the outcome of past appeals.

"Since the transition from CID to Atlas, it had not been possible for the Home Office to provide data or feedback on the outcome of asylum appeals to [decision-makers]. Although local workarounds had been implemented, this shortcoming with Atlas had hindered the ability to identify and monitor trends and to learn effectively from appeals,” the report said.

The report, which covered the period from June to December 2025, said the Home Office's work “to resolve this was ongoing but required a full rebuild of other platforms.” It was expected to finish the work by the end of 2025, the inspector’s report said.

The Register has asked the Home Office whether it has completed this remediation work.

In 2025, the Home Office said Atlas completed its replacement of CID — the legacy system began its development in 2000. The Home Office was described Atlas’ development as an eight year journey after the complex project had to cope with global events such as Brexit, Covid, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Ukraine Citizens Schemes.

Atlas was built by suppliers including Accenture, Mastek and PA Consulting. Contracts, with work starting from 2020, were valued at around £79.7 million. As of 2019, it was projected to be fully implemented in 2021. However the Home Office missed that deadline.

In 2023, The Register revealed the Home Office had missed a second deadline for the full hand-over and decommissioning of CID. At the time, the Home Office told spending watchdog the National Audit Office that it would stop using CID by September 2023. But the department missed that deadline too.

As of December 2025, there remained evidence that Home Office staff were still using the legacy system for some information. As of June 2026, a report from the Public Accounts Committee, Parliament’s spending watchdog, confirmed the department no longer used the legacy system, although it found staff did need to maintain their own spreadsheets along side the official system. ®