UK diplomats have failed to give enough priority to cases of British nationals detained abroad, even when there was a high risk they were being tortured, according to a report quietly released by the Foreign Office. The report, commissioned by Jeremy Hunt during his time as foreign secretary, said ministers were often kept in the dark about such cases, and large-scale reform was needed in the way they were handled. It recommended establishing a specialist taskforce, committing extra resources and fostering a new culture of engaging relatives of those detained. The report said relatives often found the government to be secretive, inflexible and more intent on containing an issue politically than agreeing a strategy to resolve it. But it said there was no evidence that the Foreign Office systematically put bilateral political relations ahead of individual cases. Hunt ordered the inquiry when the Foreign Office faced heavy criticism for failing to do more over the arrest and alleged psychological torture by the United Arab Emirates of a British academic, Matthew Hedges, in 2018. He spent six months in jail accused of spying before being sentenced to life imprisonment and then pardoned in November 2018. His family complained that information about his detention was withheld for weeks by diplomats on the basis that it might breach data protection laws. The internal report was completed in June 2019 by Dame Judith MacGregor, a former diplomat, and was not published. Last month the foreign affairs select committee was informed that the report’s recommendations had been accepted and a copy had been deposited in the Commons library. The campaign group Redress requested a copy under freedom of information law. A report by the foreign affairs committee on Iran is expected to make reference to MacGregor’s report this week. It is expected to air criticism of the way cases of Iranian-British dual nationals detained in Iran, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, have been supported. In interviews with families of those detained, MacGregor was told they wished to be brought more closely into any Foreign Office strategy to resolve their situation, and to receive more proactive communication, and they wanted the Foreign Office to challenge the human rights laws of the countries in which people are detained, and to move from a “manage and contain” strategy to one of resolution. The families told the inquiry that they also “wanted the Foreign Office to be more flexible and more creative in handling their cases: not automatically rejecting wider actions lest they should set a precedent but looking at cases individually and pragmatically – and defending new actions as such.” The inquiry found that the Foreign Office sometimes said it could not share information with families due to data laws. MaGregor said: “It was clear that this can contribute to frustration and a lack of trust if not explained carefully and sensitively and, where possible, as decisions are made.” The report proposed that “ministers are kept informed of all pending complex cases, with the expectation that cases where there is a significant risk of torture/mistreatment or a failure of due process when assessed against international human rights norms will be raised urgently and at the most senior levels.” A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “While the vast majority of people who request our consular services are satisfied with the support they receive, we are committed to continually improving the assistance we provide. “Dame Judith’s review found the FCDO places the interests and welfare of the individual at the heart of our policy and practice. “We have accepted the review’s recommendations and work is underway to implement them.” • This article was amended on 18 December 2020 to add a response from the Foreign Office that was received shortly after publication.