The Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements (IMA; ) is a body corporate set up in the United Kingdom by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 to monitor the functioning of the provisions of the Brexit withdrawal agreement relating to citizens' rights, and to protect the rights of European Union citizens in the UK.
Based at the Swansea Civic Centre in Swansea, Wales, it is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice.
Role of the IMA The IMA was established to make sure the agreement is being properly upheld. In specific terms, the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) protects the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens, and their family members, in the UK and Gibraltar. Essentially, the IMA helps people from EU and EEA EFTA countries get the same rights as they did before the UK left the EU. The IMA are responsible for making sure that UK public bodies and public bodies in Gibraltar are respecting the rights of EU and EEA EFTA citizens and their family members. Public bodies can include:
government departments (such as the Home Office or HM Revenue and Customs) devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland government agencies (such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) local councils non-departmental public bodies (such as NHS England or the Health and Safety Executive) public corporations (such as the BBC or the Pension Protection Fund) Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
Enforcement and investigations
In October 2022, IMA took the Home Office to court, arguing that it is against the withdrawal agreement for the government to require EU citizens to apply for settled status upon the expiry of their pre-settled status.
Structure The Independent Monitoring Authority costs of a non-executive board of six directors representing each governed area represented in the Withdrawal Agreement. +PortraitNamePost heldAppointed UntilNicole LappinChair31 December 2028Leo O'ReillyNon-executive DirectorDecember 2026Punam BirlyNon-executive Director7 December 2025Ronnie AlexanderNon-executive Director16 March 2024Marcus KillickNon-executive DirectorDecember 2026Joyce CullenNon-executive Director9 February 2024 All non-executive directors are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
Day-to-day management is delegated to the Chief Executive of the IMA who has overall responsibility for the three directorates. PortraitNamePost heldPost Held SinceTenure Miranda BiddleChief Executive OfficerJuly 2023 Andrew BagleyDirector of Governance and Corporate ServicesSeptember 2020 Rhys DaviesGeneral CounselNovember 2020 Pam EverettDirector of Operational DeliveryNovember 2020
Former executive and non-executive directors PortraitNamePost heldStartEndTenure Dr Kathryn ChamberlainChief Executive Officer202020233 years, 180 daysSir Ashley FoxChairman202020232 years, 281 days
References
External links
Supporting EU citizens in the UK after Brexit