UK Inquiry Tracker

Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 3 Apr 2025 Parliament page

The Home Office is responsible for asylum in the UK, as well as for supporting people seeking asylum by providing financial support and accommodation while it determines their asylum claim. The previous Government sought to reduce the use of hotels as accommodation by setting up sites including barges and disused … Read more

1 Recommendation

30 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

5 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 9 events

6 May
2025

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Seventh report from Session 2024-25

7 Apr
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Second Permanent Secretary of the Home Office relating to Committee’s report Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition …

31 Mar
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office relating to PAC’s 07th Report of Session 2024-25, Asylum accommodation: Home Office …

31 Mar
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office relating to the oral evidence session held on 09 December 2024 on the Acquisition of…

5 Feb
2025

Report published

7th Report - Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye

9 Dec
2024

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

9 Dec
2024

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office relating to the Home Office acquisition of the Northeye site at Bexhill, 09 December…

9 Dec
2024

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

5 Dec
2024

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office relating to the Committee’s upcoming hearing on Asylum accommodation: Home Office acqu…

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

9 Dec 2024

View on parliament.uk

Belinda Mather · Home Office Joanna Rowland · Home Office Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE · Home Office

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
7th Report - Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of fo…	HC 361	5 Feb 2025	31	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

31 results

2 Conclusion

7th Report - Asylum accommodation:…

Set out changes to ensure Home Office investment decisions use comprehensive information and transparent consultation

In its haste to purchase the Northeye site, the Home Office ignored opportunities to properly understand the risks and costs of developing it, leading to poor value for money for the taxpayer. The Home Office asserts it did a “fair … Read more In its haste to purchase the Northeye site, the Home Office ignored opportunities to properly understand the risks and costs of developing it, leading to poor value for money for the taxpayer. The Home Office asserts it did a “fair amount” of due diligence before acquiring the Northeye 4 site, but the NAO highlighted significant shortcomings. The Home Office rejected offers of expert property advice within government, ignored valid criticisms of contract terms that increased its costs, and failed to act on recommendations from the due diligence reports it had commissioned. Furthermore, the Home Office overlooked the value of fully engaging with local stakeholders, which could have provided critical insight into the site’s condition. The decision to proceed was based on an incomplete Accounting Officer assessment, filled with uncertainties and overly optimistic assumptions. Despite this, the Home Office assured the Cabinet Office it could manage the risks and proceeded with the purchase - only now acknowledging that the risks were unacceptable and that it should in fact have done much more due diligence. Indeed, the Home Office did not even commission a proper ‘red book’ valuation, so it did not know whether it was paying a fair market price for the property. We have previously warned that working at pace does not absolve the Home Office of its responsibility to manage projects effectively and safeguard value for money. The Home Office has since accepted it did not strike the right balance between due diligence and operating at pace. However, even with assurances about lessons learnt, it remains unclear to us how the Home Office plans to strengthen its processes to avoid similar failings in future acquisitions. recommendation The Home Office should, as part of its Treasury Minute response, set out what changes it has made to ensure future investment decisions are made on a comprehensive range of information, following a full and transparent consultation with a range Show less

HM Treasury

Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye

Activity timeline 9 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

Set out changes to ensure Home Office investment decisions use comprehensive information and transparent consultation

Set out staffing levels and plans for strengthening commercial capability within asylum accommodation team.

Address cultural issues allowing Home Office controls and processes to be overridden too easily.

Detail lessons from large asylum accommodation site acquisitions and explain process changes to prevent recurrence.

Set out detailed plans for reducing asylum support spending and clearing the claims backlog.

Home Office approach to acquiring Northeye asylum accommodation site examined.

Home Office cited 'pace' and ministerial pressure for rapid Northeye acquisition.

Home Office spent millions on multiple abandoned or problematic large asylum sites.

Rwanda migration scheme cancelled after £715 million spent without removals.

Home Office acknowledged rushed acquisitions led to abandoned projects and wasted public funds.

Home Office failed to fully action Northeye site survey recommendations on contamination and costs.

Home Office acknowledged inadequate due diligence and community engagement for Northeye acquisition.

Home Office bypassed standard valuation and approval processes for Northeye site acquisition.

Home Office acquired Northeye site with incomplete information and insufficient contamination surveys.

Home Office failed to complete a full business case for the Northeye site acquisition.

Home Office made limited use of Ministry of Justice property expertise for Northeye acquisition.

Home Office lacked oversight of contracted property staff, incurring additional Northeye costs.

Ensure realistic market sale price for Northeye site if government decides to resell it.

Home Office large asylum sites programme suffered poor value for money and significant failures.

Home Office prioritised speed over assurance when acquiring large asylum accommodation sites.

Home Office culture normalised emergency operations, weakening approval processes for asylum accommodation sites.

Home Office failed to adequately assess acquisition risks and costs for Northeye site.

Home Office asylum accommodation plans consistently rated 'red' by Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Home Office failed to apply lessons from failed asylum sites, incurring significant financial losses.

Home Office refuses to publish extensive lessons learned review from large site acquisitions.

Home Office acknowledges its 'entrepreneurial' asylum site acquisition approach was flawed.

Home Office faces stretching cost-saving targets, possibly needing additional Treasury funding.

Home Office Border Security Command investment raises concerns about wider asylum system impact.

Home Office improved engagement with local authorities on asylum accommodation and move-on support.

Home Office competition for accommodation exacerbates local authority homelessness costs and housing pressures.

Increased asylum refusals place acute pressure on immigration and asylum tribunal system.

Government Response AI assessment · 1 of 1 classified

Correspondence 5 letters