Home Office ‘squandered billions’ on asylum accommodation, MPs say
The Home Office has “wasted” billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on shelters, according to a report by a committee of MPs.
The Home Affairs Committee said the department was unable to cope with the surge in demand due to “flawed contracts” and “inadequate delivery” and was relying on hotels as a “go-to solution” rather than temporary workarounds.
MPs said expected costs had tripled to more than £15bn and not enough was being done to recoup excess profits.
A Home Office spokesman said the government was “outraged by the number of illegal immigrants in this country and in hotels” and reiterated its commitment to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.
The report said the current system for housing people seeking asylum was expensive (due to its reliance on hotels), unpopular with local communities and unsuitable for asylum seekers themselves.
He said contracts drawn up for accommodation providers under the Conservatives were flawed and “inadequate oversight” meant failures “went undetected and unresolved”.
The report found that expected costs for hotel contracts between 2019 and 2029 have risen from £4.5 billion to £15.3 billion, while two accommodation providers still owe millions in excess profits that the Home Office has failed to recoup.
It was stated that “leadership failures at the top level” were among the reasons why the Ministry of Internal Affairs “failed to grasp the situation”.
Dame Karen Bradley, chair of the committee, said the department had “neglected the day-to-day management of these contracts” and focused on “short-term, reactive responses”.
The report said external factors, including the pandemic and a “dramatic” increase in small boat arrivals, meant the Home Office was “forced to accommodate increasing numbers of people for longer periods of time”.
MPs added that choices made by the previous Conservative government, including delaying asylum decisions while pursuing a plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, were a factor.
While the report acknowledged the “challenging environment” in which the Home Office operated, it said its “chaotic response demonstrated its inability to rise to the challenge”.
MPs said they had heard “too many” cases of inadequate shelter and safety concerns for vulnerable people not being addressed.
In response to the report, a Home Office spokesman said: “We have already taken action to close hotels, reduce asylum costs by around £1bn and investigate the use of military bases and disused properties.”
Various protests and counter-protests regarding asylum hotels have been held across the UK this year, particularly in Epping over the summer, after an asylum seeker housed at the Bell Hotel was accused of two sexual assaults.
