Home Office chief among civil servants awarded knighthood in New Year Honours

Sir Matthew Rycroft has been charged with implementing controversial policies including the Rwanda deal

Home Office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft raised concerns about the policy (House of Commons/PA) (PA Archive)

The head of the Home Office has been given a knighthood following a tumultuous year for the department.

Permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft was among several civil servants named in the New Year Honours, including officials from Border Force and a Home Office legal adviser.

He was made a knight commander for “services to British diplomacy, development and domestic policy”, following a decades-long career including posts at the Department for International Development, Foreign Office and as the UK’s representative to the United Nations.

Sir Matthew became the chief civil servant at the Home Office in March 2020, following the resignation of predecessor Sir Philip Rutnam over alleged bullying by Priti Patel.

He has remained in the post through two stints in the post by Suella Braverman and an interim period where Grant Shapps was home secretary for six days - the shortest tenure in history.

Sir Matthew has been charged with the implementation of policies aiming to reduce small boat crossings in the English Channel, which broke records in 2022 as the backlog of asylum applications being considered by the Home Office hit an all-time high.

Measures hoped to deter crossings include the Rwanda deal, which Sir Matthew refused to sign off without a rare ministerial direction.

In a letter to the former home secretary, he said evidence that the policy would deter small boat crossings was “highly uncertain and cannot be quantified with sufficient certainty to provide me with the necessary level of assurance over value for money”.

Sir Matthew said receiving the knighthood was the “honour of my life” and expressed gratitude to his family, friends and colleagues.

“In over 30 years as a public servant, I have been fortunate enough to work alongside many many amazing people who have dedicated their own lives to improving the lives of others,” he added.

“So this award is not just for me. It is for the countless public servants who are doing a brilliant job, often unsung, behind the scenes, with little credit. Thank you.”

Several other Home Office civil servants were decorated in the honours, which are awarded in the name of King Charles III on the advice of the Cabinet Office.

Home Office legal adviser Rashid Begum was made an OBE for public service. Her LinkedIn page describes her as a survivor of honour-based violence and said she was “working in a high profile sensitive area of central government”.

Nicola Percival, a civil servant in “project delivery, borders and enforcement”, was made an MBE for public service.

Border Force officer Stephen Windsor was awarded the same honour, as was Steven Tennet, from the Border Force “freight intensification team”.

The Home Office’s former “health and wellbeing lead”, Jack Summers, was decorated for services to mental health.

He was previously nominated for the Civil Service Awards, with the website saying that he had developed proposals to improve the working lives of Immigration Enforcement staff.

The list was revealed following a strike by Border Force staff in passport control at several major airports, which saw military personnel drafted in to cover their roles during the busy Christmas travel period.