Recommendation 17

HM Government Accepted

The MEDP is a long-term policy which is expected to last for at least five years. Costings and payments will depend on the number of people relocated, the timing of when this happens, and the outcomes of individual cases. As set out to the Committee on 22 June, and as per Managing Public Money guidance, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office will provide an updated Accounting Officer (AO) note if our evaluation of the Programme against the four tests changes, or if the Programme deviates materially from the agreed plan which informed the Accounting Officer’s previous approval. We expect to provide an updated AO Note ahead of the next financial year taking into account the additional data we would expect to have available (such as number of transferees, number of legal challenges, level of crossings etc). A summary of the AO note will be published once it has been updated. The most recent note resulted in the Ministerial Direction as published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-and- economic-development-partnership-ministerial-direction. As part of the partnership, the UK is investing an initial £120 million into the economic development and growth of Rwanda. The UK has also made a £20m upfront payment to the Government of Rwanda to support initial set up costs. Funding will also be provided to support the delivery of asylum operations, accommodation, and integration. Every individual’s needs are different, and funding will only be provided while an individual remains in Rwanda. Actual spend will be reported as part of the annual Home Office Reports and Accounts in the usual way. However, providing full details of the funding arrangements at this stage would be prejudicial to interests of the UK government, weakening our ability to negotiate future deals with other nations. It would also likely be against the interests of the Government of Rwanda to disclose this information should they also wish to enter further partnerships. On 14 June, we aimed to relocate the first people from the UK, who arrived here through dangerous and illegal means, to Rwanda. Many and various claims to prevent relocation were brought forward but the decisions of our domestic courts, the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court upheld our right to operate the flight. However, hours before the flight was set to depart, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg granted an interim measure (Rule 39 Order) in the case of one of the individuals set to be removed. Following this, three other individuals who were due to be removed made similar appeals to the Court of Appeal and were granted domestic injunctions as a result of the Rule 39 Order given to the first individual (simultaneously the ECtHR also granted Rule 39s to two of those three, which expired two weeks later). We therefore removed people from the flight. While we are unable to comment on matters currently before the courts, it is important to note that no court has actually ruled that this partnership is unlawful. The Judicial Reviews on the MEDP continue and we expect a judgment later in the Autumn. In the meantime, we continue to prepare for delivery.