UK Inquiry Tracker

Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 11 Mar 2024 Closed: 29 May 2024 Parliament page

Asylum accommodation The Home Office is responsible for asylum and protection in the UK, including supporting destitute people who seek asylum by providing financial support and accommodation. At the end of June 2023, accommodation was provided to around 113,000 people seeking asylum, around 51,000 of whom were staying in hotels. … Read more Asylum accommodation The Home Office is responsible for asylum and protection in the UK, including supporting destitute people who seek asylum by providing financial support and accommodation. At the end of June 2023, accommodation was provided to around 113,000 people seeking asylum, around 51,000 of whom were staying in hotels. In 2022-23, the Home Office spent around £3.6 billion on asylum support, of which £2.3 billion was spent on hotels and £0.4 billion on other types of accommodation. The Home Office wants to reduce the use of hotels and is trying to procure accommodation in local areas while people wait for an asylum decision. It is also using, or seeking to use, sites such as barges or disused military bases. The Illegal Migration Act 2023 will place a duty on the Home Secretary to remove all those who arrive irregularly to the UK, and gives powers to the Home Office to detain people prior to their removal. This may bring about a significant change in the type of accommodation the Home Office requires. Rwanda partnership In April 2022, the government announced a Migration and Economic Development Partnership with the Government of Rwanda. The partnership, administered by the Home Office, falls under the government’s third country asylum processing policy. This is a process whereby individuals identified as being in the UK illegally, or seeking asylum after arriving illegally, are relocated to a safe third country. The partnership is designed to deter people from making illegal journeys to the UK. It runs for five years until April 2027, and may be renewed. Under the partnership, the UK government provides development funding to Rwanda and will meet processing and integration costs for each relocated person. In November 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that the policy was unlawful and the Government responded by introducing the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which is currently making its passage through Parliament. There has been very limited transparency of the costs of the partnership and the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office requested a Ministerial Direction on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to conclude the policy would deliver value for money. On 8 December 2023, the Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees wrote to the Comptroller and Auditor General to express concern at the lack of information available to Parliament on spending on the Rwanda partnership and to ask if the NAO would consider the matter. The NAO’s subsequent factual report on its investigation into the costs of the UK-Rwanda Partnership sets out the costs incurred to date and the Home Office’s estimate of potential costs when the partnership is operational. The report does not conclude on the value for money of the partnership which would depend on whether it deters individuals from making illegal journeys to claim asylum in the UK. Based on the NAO’s reports into asylum accommodation and the partnership with Rwanda , the Committee will take evidence from senior officials from the Home Office on subjects including: the costs incurred to date from the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda and the basis on which future costs would be incurred when the partnership is operational; the Home Office’s oversight and approach to monitoring the partnership; the Home Office’s current and future plans for accommodating and detaining people who arrive in the UK to seek asylum; the costs of different asylum accommodation and how the Home Office oversees such projects. The Committee’s inquiry will not consider the merits of asylum policy. The Committee is also unable to consider individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to contact your constituency MP . If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on Tuesday 2 April 2024. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. This inquiry was closed due to the 2024 General Election. Show less

4 Recommendations

28 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

11 Jul
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fourth report from Session 2023-24

29 May
2024

Report published

Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership

20 May
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, re Follow up to 15 April PAC hearing on Asylum Accommodat…

29 Apr
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sir Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership, dated 25 Apri…

15 Apr
2024

Oral evidence

The cost of the Rwanda Partnership and Asylum Accommodation

15 Apr
2024

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster

The cost of the Rwanda Partnership and Asylum Accommodation

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

15 Apr 2024

View on parliament.uk

The cost of the Rwanda Partnership and Asylum Accommodation

Dan Hobbs · Home Office Joanna Rowland · Home Office Simon Ridley · Home Office Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE · Home Office

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partne…	HC 639	29 May 2024	32	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

8 Conclusion Not Addressed

Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Acco…

Home Office offers insufficient detail on Rwanda's relocation capacity and practical implementation.

The Home Office confirmed that the agreement with Rwanda was designed to start relocations quickly and then scale up to significant volumes of people. We asked about the Home Office’s ability to manage the practical implications of relocating people, and … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details past costs and confirms the ending of the Rwanda partnership, entirely failing to address the committee's observations and questions regarding Rwanda's capacity to accommodate relocated individuals.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Not Addressed

Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Acco…

Home Office relocation operational planning lacks sufficient detail and transparency for scrutiny.

The Home Office acknowledged that there were many constraints that it would have to take into account when running the programme of relocations, and told us that it had developed plans and contingency options. It told us that its operational … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details past costs and confirms the ending of the Rwanda partnership, completely failing to address the committee's concerns about detailed operational planning and contingencies for relocations.

HM Treasury

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14 Conclusion Not Addressed

Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Acco…

Home Office awarded major accommodation site contracts without full competition, citing urgency.

We asked the Home Office why it had not submitted to competition five of the contracts relating to the new sites, worth £243 million of the £253 million it had spent through contracts. The Home Office told us that it … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, outlining measures to improve cost profiling, technical expertise, and due diligence for site selection and delivery, but does not address the committee's concerns about the lack of competition in past contracts or provide assurance for future competitive tendering.

HM Treasury

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17 Conclusion Not Addressed

Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Acco…

Home Office spends substantial ODA on in-country asylum support, citing government choice.

Many of those subject to removal will be living in Home Office accommodation, such as hotels or large sites, despite being unable to claim asylum in the UK. The Home Office spent an estimated £4.7 billion on asylum support (which … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details existing welfare and safeguarding provisions for asylum seekers, completely failing to address the committee's concerns about the sustainability of current spending on accommodation or the use of ODA.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 32 of 4 classified

Accepted 16

Acknowledged 7

Deferred 2

Not Addressed 4

Rejected 3

Total 4 recs + 28 conclusions

Correspondence 2 letters

20 May 2024 Correspondence from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, re Follow up to 15 April PAC hearing on Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda Partnership, dated 8 May 2024

Parliament page

29 Apr 2024 Correspondence from Sir Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, re Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership, dated 25 April 2024

Parliament page