Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Rejected
Cap Home Office in-donor refugee costs at a fixed percentage of total ODA.
Recommendation
The Government should consider that Home Office in-donor refugee costs should be capped at a fixed percentage of total ODA spend to protect a rapidly diminishing envelope of funding. This should include formal review points if projections breach 80% of the agreed caps. (Recommendation, Paragraph 47)
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly rejects the recommendation for a cap on Home Office in-donor refugee costs, stating the FCDO's ODA budget is no longer automatically exposed and measures are in place to reduce asylum costs.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
Disagree. The FCDO’s ODA budget is no longer automatically exposed to spending by other government departments, including demand-driven refugee and asylum costs in the UK, so a cap on Home Office in-donor refugee costs is not required. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog and reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in this Parliament to ensure more of our ODA budget is spent on our development priorities overseas. The aid spent in the UK on refugee and asylum costs fell by a third last year and the Home Office is working to bring it down further. The FCDO is supporting that effort through its own work to tackle organised immigration crime, and reduce pressures on the asylum system.