Afghanistan Response Route (ARR)

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry
Opened: 13 Oct 2025 Parliament page
The Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) was set up by the Ministry of Defence to mitigate the security risks arising from a data protection breach and the unauthorised disclosure of personal information about Afghan citizens which occurred in February 2022. The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report on the … Read more
26 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Letters
Activity timeline 6 events
14 May
2026
Correspondence
20 Apr
2026
Correspondence
19 Jan
2026
Report published
14 Nov
2025
Report published
16 Oct
2025
Correspondence
3 Sep
2025
Correspondence
Title HC No. Published Items Response
54th Report - Afghanistan Response Route HC 1391 14 Nov 2025 26 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
10 Conclusion Acknowledged
54th Report - Afghanistan Response…
ICO unable to conduct full data breach investigation due to classified information.
In August 2023, after it discovered the data breach, the Department reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The police decided that no criminal investigation was necessary. The ICO decided that it was not … Read more
Government Response
The government commissioned an independent, MOD-wide Data Protection Review in response to several high-profile and sensitive data protection incidents.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
54th Report - Afghanistan Response…
Department had data protection policies but improved systems since February 2022 breach.
As part of its investigation into the February 2022 data breach, the Department provided to the ICO details of its data protection policies, as well as training and guidance for staff on the risks of sharing information by email, that … Read more
Government Response
The government references a letter dated 7 October 2025 which includes an update on how the recommendations in the McIvor Review have been implemented.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Acknowledged
54th Report - Afghanistan Response…
Department unable to determine precise ARR scheme costs due to commingled accounts and super-injunction.
The Department is not able to determine exactly what it has spent on resettling people through the ARR scheme, because it did not separately identify the costs in its accounting system. The Department told us that it did this because … Read more
Government Response
The government states that capturing costs for the ARR scheme separately would be disproportionately complex and resource intensive, and proposes an alternative approach for allocating costs.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 0 classified
Accepted 14
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 5
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 2
Total 0 recs + 26 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
14 May 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence relating to Afghanistan Resettlement Programme Update, 28 April 2026
Parliament page
20 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Chair relating to Afghanistan Response Route, 2 April 2026
Parliament page
16 Oct 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence relating to the February 2022 Afghan Data Incident follow up information, 07 October 2025
Parliament page
3 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Treasury Officer of Accounts at HM Treasury relating to the spending incurred following the Afghan data leak and in relation to expenditure on the Afghan Response Route, 26 August 2025
Parliament page