Cleverly requests emergency £2.6bn after Home Office overspend on asylum hotels

By Sophie Wingate and Dominic McGrath, Reporters2nd February 2024News EnglandCustodial Care, Government / Politics, Immigration, News England, Refugees / Asylum

The Home Office has asked for parliamentary approval for an emergency £2.6 billion in cash after spending more than expected on asylum accommodation.

James Cleverly made the request for a “contingencies fund advance” via a written statement, which the Home Office said will enable the department “to deliver services with unpredictable final costs, such as the asylum system”.

The Home Office spent around £8 million a day last year for migrants to be put up in hotels, with official figures last summer showing more than 50,000 were housed in hotel rooms.

The Home Secretary’s request for extra money comes as figures this week showed the number of migrants crossing the English Channel was up 13% compared with this time last year.

In his written statement to Parliament, Mr Cleverly (pictured) said: “The Home Office net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the Main Estimate 2023-24…

“Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2,600,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Home Office.

“Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,600,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Financial advances through contingencies funds are planned for each year to enable departments to deliver services with unpredictable final costs, such as the asylum system.

“This is a routine request and will enable the Home Office to continue to keep the public and the UK’s borders safe.”

Labour said the Conservative Government has “completely bust the budget of the Home Office through staggering incompetence and chaos”.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The taxpayer is paying the price.

“The overspend this year is significantly worse than last year despite all Rishi Sunak’s promises.

“Their failure to clear the asylum backlog, end the use of hotels for asylum seekers stuck in their broken asylum system or sort out proper contracts has left them with an eyewatering £2.6 billion blackhole that the British taxpayer will need to fill.

“Time and again they go for gimmicks rather than ever getting a grip.

“Labour set out a plan last year to clear the backlog, recruiting over 1,000 new case workers and ending the use of extortionate asylum hotels.

“That would save over £2 billion and sort out the Tory chaos.”

Hopes for Turkey migrant returns deal dashed after Home Office review

A potential returns agreement to send migrants back to Turkey appears unlikely to go ahead, after reports that Home Office officials said it was not a safe country due to human rights concerns.

The Times said that ministers’ hopes for a returns deal, along the same lines as the current agreement with Albania, has collapsed after an internal review said Turkey was “a state that does not meet the criteria of being ‘generally safe’”.

Rishi Sunak and other leading Tories have hailed the Albania deal as key success in the Prime Minister’s bid to stop small boats crossings in the Channel. But it now appears a similar agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to happen.

The proportion of Turkish nationals arriving in the UK on small boats jumped from 2% in 2022 to more than 10% last year.

According to the paper, the Home Office review found that an analysis showed that 99% of Turkish asylum cases to the UK were based on “a fear of the state”, with the document also critical of the country’s “over-zealous” use of anti-terrorism law and the independence of the courts.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “International cooperation plays a crucial part in tackling illegal migration and the UK and Turkey are close strategic partners, with a future-focused relationship.

“Where an individual has no legal right to be in the UK, we will seek to return them to their home country. Protection claims are considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations – no-one who is found to be at risk of persecution or serious harm will be returned.”

Mr Sunak has made his pledge to “stop the boats” central to his premiership. More than 1,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman said it was a “very concerning” decision.

In a post on X, she said: “As Home Secretary I worked up proposals to list Turkey as a safe country: a member of the Council of Europe, a NATO ally and a Candidate country for EU accession.

“The government should re-think this decision.”