17
Home Office spends substantial ODA on in-country asylum support, citing government choice.
Conclusion
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 covers accommodation, and financial subsistence for those who would otherwise be destitute) in the 2023–24 financial year, and the Government spent £4.3 billion of official development assistance budget (one-quarter of all aid spending) on supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, many of whom will not be entitled to claim asylum here. We challenged the Home Office that many members of the public would be surprised that it was spending so much of the overseas development assistance supporting people within the UK rather than overseas, and if it believed that was sustainable. The Home Office told us the UK had no choice but to “score it as [overseas development assistance]” but that the level of spending was not sustainable, which is why it was looking to reduce its reliance on hotels and reduce other costs, so that the official development assistance can be spent elsewhere.28 The Home Office subsequently wrote to us to correct its statement and said that the UK government chose to include all in-country refugee costs as overseas development assistance.29
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 11 July 2025. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership
29 May 2024
HC 639
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
2.3 yrs
Report published
29 May 2024