Select committee: Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 46
4th Report – The Home Office's management of asylum accommodation
Published 27 Oct 2025
Addressed to Home Office
Home Affairs Committee Asylum accommodation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
In principle, a decentralised model could provide a viable alternative to a centralised system that has simply not worked. A more localised approach could have a number of benefits, in particular enabling greater co- ordination between asylum accommodation and other services. Delivering such a system effectively will require resources, time and a clear strategy. Shifting to localised delivery would not by itself deal with the challenges inherent in the system, and could create new risks, such as increasing fragmentation, and exacerbate existing problems, such as poor central oversight. Fairness and equity, rather than cost, should be paramount 107 regardless of the system used. The Home Office remains ultimately responsible for the asylum accommodation system, regardless of who is leading on delivery on the ground. That should not change; but it must ensure it devotes the necessary resources to overseeing the system. If the Home Office chooses to pursue a more decentralised model for the delivery of asylum accommodation, it needs to develop a strategy for capitalising on the opportunities presented by decentralisation while addressing the considerable challenges. (Conclusion, Paragraph 198) 108
From: Home Affairs Committee, 4th Report – The Home Office's management of asylum accommodation (HC 580), 27 October 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 January 2026 (deadline 27 December 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government sets its response within its 'Restoring Order and Control' programme, committing to exit asylum hotels 'as soon as possible', while setting out some actions already taken and giving reasons where it does not agree with a recommendation.
- On hotels, the government says it will close them "as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament", noting use has fallen from over 400 at its peak to 197 as of 5 January 2026. It does not comment on the timing of individual closures.
- On contract management, it says it has strengthened capability and commissioned an independent review led by Mark Beaton, and reports recovering £74 million in profit share and service credits in the current financial year.
- It says the Home Office "will seek to introduce" a more rigorous profit-share methodology in future contracts, and that revised KPI amendments "will be finalised by February 2026".
- It does not agree to account for Contingency Accommodation directly in the National Allocation Plans, saying this would limit its ability to increase Dispersal Accommodation in areas that already host Contingency Accommodation.