Border Force boss 'left with spotless record despite suggesting naked game'

A Home Office inquiry has found one of its most senior officials harassed and behaved inappropriately towards a female colleague, before being able to leave the civil service with an unblemished record after a "shambolic" disciplinary process.

- Pippa Crerar

The case has caused such alarm in the department that the new permanent secretary, Antonia Romeo, has ordered an immediate review of complaints, conduct and disciplinary procedures to "ensure confidence in the integrity of the system".

Steve Dann, a former chief operating officer (COO) of Border Force, was in effect banned from visiting the organisation's offices in Paris in 2023 after he suggested to female officers that regional directors could play a game of Naked Attraction, the Channel 4 dating show in which contestants stand in front of each other fully nude.

He told investigators he did not recall the incident.

Dann, who worked for four years in the £120,000-a-year post, faced other allegations of misogynistic name-calling and making comments to women with sexual connotations, according to Home Office sources.

He denied the allegations, suggesting comments had been taken out of context and that selected evidence had been used during the investigation by the Home Office's professional standards unit (PSU).

He acknowledged during the process that some of his comments may have been careless, but said he had never intended to upset or offend.

After a chaotic HR process, which one source said was littered with "procedural errors and delays", the grievance was upheld on appeal.

However, Dann was not informed about the process until the initial stage was completed. He was also subjected to a parallel misconduct investigation into the complaint, which was not upheld.

Dann decided to leave the Home Office last December, standing down as the COO of Border Force, a role that placed him at the centre of its main responsibilities, including securing UK borders by enforcing immigration regulations and patrolling coastlines for small boat migrants. He has since entered the private sector in the field of security and law enforcement operations, and public safety.