Former HM Inspector of Immigration and Principal Authorising Officer for specialist intelligence investigations, with over four decades of operational, strategic and international experience spanning the UK Home Office, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, National Crime Agency and Border Force. Simon is a recognised authority on the identification, disruption and prevention of human exploitation at international borders.
Immigration control, Customs control, Human trafficking, Modern slavery, Child sexual abuse & exploitation, Transnational child sex offenders, Organised immigration crime, Travel-document fraud, Border intelligence, systems & assurance, Specialist intelligence investigations, Safeguarding policy, practice & procedure, Operational strategy, National and international training, Border-to-border capability-sharing, Police & cross-government working
Experience:
Former HM Inspector of Immigration and Principal Authorising Officer for specialist intelligence investigations, with a career spanning the UK Home Office, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, National Crime Agency and Border Force. As Capabilities Lead for Border Force's National Safeguarding and Modern Slavery Teams, he introduced breakthrough technologies and devised the e-reporting architecture for border-intelligence collections against human exploitation, and authored a national strategy now ending modern slavery in the UK's offshore fishing industry while generating new tax revenue. His international work includes pioneering assignments in Bangladesh, China, Kenya, India and Vietnam, and he has delivered human exploitation training at host government request in Bahrain, Ghana, Gibraltar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Thailand. He holds a Border Force letter of commendation and two Border Force Excellence Awards.
Simon is a former HM Inspector of Immigration and Principal Authorising Officer for specialist intelligence investigations. He is a recognised and published authority on the identification, disruption and prevention of human exploitation at international borders, with over four decades of directly relevant operational, strategic and international experience spanning the UK Home Office, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, precursor National Crime Agency, and Border Force. He has spent a quarter of his career overseas in Asia and Africa, developing extensive experience in international 'border-to-border' collaborations to combat the intersecting global threats of human trafficking, modern slavery and child sexual abuse & exploitation.
Having operated at the practitioner, investigative, management, national coordination and strategic governance levels both in the UK and internationally, Simon's track record spans frontline immigration & customs controls, travel document fraud, modern slavery, organised immigration crime and transnational child sex offenders. He has established specialist teams, designed infrastructure, developed national capabilities, devised operational strategies, coordinated national intelligence delivery, authorised proceeds of crime investigations, and created training packages delivered UK-wide and internationally.
As Capabilities Lead for Border Force's National Safeguarding and Modern Slavery Teams, he introduced breakthrough technologies and devised the e-reporting architecture for border-intelligence collections against human exploitation, authored the human exploitation reference material for a Home Office e-learning platform serving approximately 26,000 users, and authored a pioneering national strategy that is ending modern slavery in the UK's offshore fishing industry while generating new tax revenue. His international government experience includes pioneering work in Bangladesh, China, Kenya, India and Vietnam, where he negotiated the mechanics for a bilateral UK/Vietnam Ministerial Memorandum of Understanding on immigration-related data exchange that became the template for subsequent UK immigration MoUs globally.
An experienced facilitator, trainer and international speaker, Simon has delivered bespoke human exploitation training at host government request in Bahrain, Ghana, Gibraltar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Thailand, and has represented UK border and intelligence practice at conferences in South Africa and Ethiopia. His contributions have been recognised through a Border Force letter of commendation, two Border Force Excellence Awards, and as a runner-up for a UK child protection technology award. Through his independent consultancy, EveryChildSafer, Simon champions justice beyond borders, driven by the belief that fewer perpetrators anywhere means safer children everywhere.
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