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

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 639 29 May 2024
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 32 items (4 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 32 of 32 classified)
Accepted 16
Acknowledged 7
Deferred 2
Not Addressed 4
Rejected 3
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fourth report from Session 2023-24 · published 11 Jul 2025
Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker
Clear

Recommendations & Conclusions

16 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Mandate Home Office to detail future due diligence processes protecting taxpayers' money on projects.
Recommendation
In its haste to establish large accommodation sites, the Home Office made unacceptable and avoidable mistakes, and failed to protect value for money. The Home Office asserts that its need to deal with a “national emergency” meant it had to … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Home Office has restructured the programme to deliver smaller sites, improved technical construction expertise for cost estimation, brought forward due diligence, and improved engagement with local authorities, with accounting officer assessments and business cases now completed for each site.
HM Treasury
View Details
3 Conclusion Accepted
Require Home Office to provide quarterly updates on people awaiting relocation and safety penalties.
Conclusion
We are not convinced the Home Office has put in place sufficient measures to safeguard those pending relocation while they wait to hear what will happen 6 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership to them. The Home Office is not processing … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Home Office commits to writing to the Committee quarterly, detailing the service credits (penalties) applied in each region for accommodation safety, habitability, and fitness for purpose KPIs.
HM Treasury
View Details
4 Conclusion Accepted
Require Home Office to detail plans for understanding local impact of asylum policies and council issues.
Conclusion
We are concerned that the Home Office has not engaged effectively with local authorities about the impact its work is having on local areas. The Home Office is making progress in its plans to reduce its use of hotels. By … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Home Office will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues. It is also building tools, such as a weekly Discontinuation Prediction Tool and a future Place Based Visibility Tool, to share data with local authorities for better planning and management of asylum cases.
HM Treasury
View Details
1 Conclusion Accepted
Committee took evidence on Home Office Rwanda partnership and asylum accommodation plans.
Conclusion
On the basis of two reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Home Office about its partnership with the Government of Rwanda and its plans to accommodate people seeking asylum.1
Government Response Summary
The government confirms the funds paid to Rwanda as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) and states that the partnership has now ended, with no removals to Rwanda to take place under the MEDP.
HM Treasury
View Details
11 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office commits to timely reporting of additional costs for parliamentary scrutiny.
Conclusion
We asked the Home Office how it proposed to report any additional costs to Parliament so that they could be scrutinised. The Accounting Officer told us that he was committed to transparency and reiterated that the costs of the partnership … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states it has already provided cost information for the Rwanda partnership, detailing specific payments made, and confirms that the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is ending, meaning no further removals or costs will be incurred under this partnership.
HM Treasury
View Details
12 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office has established four large asylum accommodation sites with substantial costs and capacity.
Conclusion
The Home Office has established four large accommodation sites – the Bibby Stockholm vessel in Dorset, former RAF bases in Wethersfield, Essex and Scampton, Lincolnshire, and former student accommodation in Huddersfield. The Home Office estimated that, by the end of … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has restructured the large sites programme to deliver smaller sites, improved cost profiling and technical expertise, and now completes value for money assessments for each site earlier to reduce cost and commercial risk.
HM Treasury
View Details
13 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office underestimated large accommodation site set-up costs due to optimism bias and inadequate expertise.
Conclusion
We were concerned by the Home Office’s assessment of the set-up costs to convert the two former RAF bases to accommodation. At the outset, the Home Office estimated that such costs would be £5 million for each site, but the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states measures have been implemented to address weaknesses in cost estimation and project delivery, including restructuring the programme, improving technical construction expertise, ensuring value for money assessments and business cases for sites, and conducting earlier due diligence.
HM Treasury
View Details
15 Conclusion Accepted
Large accommodation sites projected more costly than hotels, challenging value for money claims.
Conclusion
We asked the Home Office whether it was still satisfied that it was getting value for money, given the costs of the accommodation and the fact that capacity was much lower than anticipated. The Home Office’s latest assessment of value … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has restructured the large sites programme to deliver smaller sites, improved cost profiling and technical expertise, and now completes value for money assessments for each site earlier to reduce cost and commercial risk.
HM Treasury
View Details
16 Conclusion Accepted
Many asylum seekers remain in limbo with unprocessed claims pending relocation.
Conclusion
The Illegal Migration Bill was first introduced to Parliament in March 2023, and since this time the Home Office has not been processing claims for the majority of people arriving in small boats and through other irregular means. We remarked … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, outlining existing processes for safeguarding, welfare, accommodation standards, and health checks for individuals whose cases are under consideration, but does not address the issue of individuals being left 'in limbo' due to processing delays.
HM Treasury
View Details
18 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office still developing specific safety measures for residents in large accommodation sites.
Conclusion
The Home Office is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of people in its care, whether they are claiming asylum or pending relocation. But the National Audit Office reported that, in January 2024, the Home Office was still developing specific … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, detailing existing procedures for safeguarding, welfare, health checks, and ensuring safe accommodation for asylum seekers, but does not specifically commit to developing new measures to assess provider performance on safety or to clarify how concerns can be raised as implied by the committee's conclusion.
HM Treasury
View Details
19 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office contracts for migrant accommodation lack specified penalties for safeguarding failures.
Conclusion
The Home Office told us that health and welfare of migrants was “baked into” the way that it runs the sites and the contracts with suppliers. It said there were clear key performance indicators (KPIs) on accommodation being safe and … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that contracts include mechanisms for service credits for failing to meet KPIs on accommodation safety and habitability, and commits to providing the Committee with quarterly reports detailing these service credits applied in each region, starting October 2024.
HM Treasury
View Details
20 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office lacks a clear timeline for fully phasing out asylum seeker hotel accommodation.
Conclusion
Since 2020, the Home Office has increasingly used hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum, as demand for accommodation increased and there was an insufficient supply of alternative accommodation. In October 2023, the Home Office announced that it intended to stop … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues related to asylum casework and move-on, and commits to sharing regular, timely data and management information through tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool and the forthcoming Place Based Visibility Tool.
HM Treasury
View Details
21 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office exits leave hotels in derelict conditions, burdening local communities with regeneration costs.
Conclusion
We have heard reports, including from our own constituencies, that some hotels have been left in derelict conditions following the Home Office exiting them. We received written evidence from London Councils which told us that there were concerns across the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will establish a working group with local authorities to address issues related to "Move On" from asylum accommodation and will implement tools for sharing regular, timely data to help local authorities plan for smoother transitions and anticipate demand on their services.
HM Treasury
View Details
22 Conclusion Accepted
Increased asylum decisions burden local authorities with rising homelessness and significant costs.
Conclusion
The National Audit Office reported that the increase in asylum decisions had placed greater pressure on local authorities to support refugees in finding accommodation, and increased the risk of homelessness and rough sleeping.35 We received written evidence from the London … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues related to asylum casework and move-on, and commits to sharing regular, timely data and management information through tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool and the forthcoming Place Based Visibility Tool.
HM Treasury
View Details
23 Recommendation Accepted
Home Office has improved liaison with local authorities to manage asylum accommodation impacts.
Recommendation
The Home Office told us that it was not “cloth-eared” to the issues that local authorities faced, and that it included the challenges facing local authorities as part of its assessment of which hotels to close and in what order, … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, committing to establish a working group with local authorities, share regular data via existing and new tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool, and build and share a Place Based Visibility Tool once plans are confirmed.
HM Treasury
View Details
27 Conclusion Accepted
Home Office has established arrangements to monitor Rwanda payments and individual residence in country.
Conclusion
The National Audit Office found that the Home Office had established arrangements to test whether the partnership was working and to oversee payments. We asked whether payments would stop if an individual left Rwanda, and how the Home Office would … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Home Office has already set out the funds paid to the Government of Rwanda and confirmed it will be ending the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, so there will be no removals to Rwanda under the MEDP.
HM Treasury
View Details