A Home Office investigation 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.
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, the former chief operating officer (COO) of Border Force, was effectively 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 was in the £120,000-a-year post for four years, 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 original grievance was eventually upheld on appeal.
However, Dann was not informed about the process until the initial stage was completed. He was also subject to a parallel misconduct investigation into the claims which was not upheld.
Dann decided to leave the Home Office in December last year, standing down as the COO of Border Force, a role that placed him at the centre of the organisation’s key responsibilities, including securing the UK’s borders by enforcing immigration regulations and patrolling coastlines during the small-boats crisis. He has since entered the private sector in the field of security and law enforcement operations, and public safety.
The complainant first reported Dann in February 2024, after working with him for 18 months. An initial internal grievance inquiry was launched two months later, with the final PSU report quoting named Home Office officials who appeared to confirm a series of sexist and misogynistic comments, according to sources.
While the complaint was not initially upheld, it was later upheld on appeal in October 2024. Dann was not involved in this process and was not given the opportunity to respond.
At the same time a separate misconduct process was launched, also based on evidence in the PSU report. This was not upheld, no formal disciplinary sanction was imposed, and there was no record of it on Dann’s file, although Home Office sources said he was asked to undergo training in response.
The claims being investigated included the colleague being told in a voice note that she was “very pretty”, which the PSU report concluded was “reasonable” for her to have interpreted as harassment. Other comments were described by the report as “inappropriate and offensive” and “unprofessional topics with a sexual connotation”.
According to sources, the report said he messaged about one person who attended a meeting suggesting that she had a “porn star name”, which he told the inquiry was meant in a “lighthearted” way. On a separate occasion, he was said to have misnamed a female colleague “kinky”, although he later admitted this had been a “careless” thing to say.
During a discussion on the diversity of his office, Dann allegedly said: “Don’t forget the sweaty woman in the corner”, referring to a colleague going through menopause. In the report, he denied making this comment.
In another meeting, in December 2022, he asked junior colleagues if they knew what a “fluffer” was, and then explained it was “someone whose job was to keep a porn star’s penis erect”, sources said. He denied to investigators that he had made the remarks.
On the official visit to Border Force in Paris in April 2023, he brought up the Channel 4 naked dating show Naked Attraction to two female officers working in intelligence. In remarks corroborated by witnesses, he added: “We were thinking it could be all the regional directors and, you know, people had to look at it and guess whose penis it was.”
The officers were “very shocked” by the conversation and felt “incredibly uncomfortable”, a senior official told investigators, but when they were asked if they wanted to make a complaint they said they would prefer that Dann not return to the Paris office. This was reported to Border Force chiefs. Dann told them he did not recall the incident.
One senior official who witnessed the exchange said they were “disappointed” by Dann’s conduct, which they felt was “inappropriate”. Several others said they considered that he was “prone to oversharing” about his private life at work, sources with knowledge of the report said.
The appeal, which was based on the same evidence in the PSU report, was finally concluded eight months after the initial complaint. It was after the Labour government entered office, and six weeks later Dann left his role, declaring that after nine years at the Home Office it was time to “embrace new challenges”.
In a letter to the complainant in October 2024, the Home Office upheld the grievance, acknowledging that Dann’s conduct had fallen below the standards expected from a senior official and was in breach of the department’s policies on appropriate behaviour, sources said.
However, Dann – who was previously a “people champion” and diversity lead in the civil service, roles that focused on improving the workplace environment, as well as representing the organisation in parliament and in the media – avoided any formal consequences because the separate earlier disciplinary process had already concluded and the rules meant it could not be reopened.
According to sources, Dann told the initial investigation he had worked incredibly hard in a stressful frontline environment. Much of his time running Border Force operations was when the Tory government was struggling to get control of irregular migration, including small-boat crossings.
Several of the witnesses said they had not been offended by his behaviour. However others, including senior civil servants and junior frontline operational staff, found his conduct inappropriate and unprofessional, according to sources who have seen the final PSU report and with knowledge of the final outcome.
During the PSU investigation, Dann denied some of his conduct and said other incidents had been taken out of context, and that selected evidence had been used. But sources said he added that “on reflection” there had been times when some of his comments had been “careless”, although they were not meant in a malicious way. When approached by the Guardian, he declined to comment.
Yvette Cooper, who was home secretary throughout the latter part of the grievance process, has repeatedly and vocally called out workplace discrimination, misogyny and harassment. The case was flagged with her office although she is understood not to have been personally aware.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on individual HR cases, where there are allegations of inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment the Home Office will investigate and take appropriate action.
“The Home Office expects the highest standard from all members of staff and does not tolerate anyone displaying or taking part in unacceptable behaviour.
“The new permanent secretary has already commissioned a review of complaints, conduct and disciplinary procedures, to ensure absolute confidence in the integrity of the system.”