Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The Asylum Transformation Programme

Status: Closed Opened: 24 May 2023 Closed: 14 Feb 2024 8 recommendations 15 conclusions 1 report

In 2021-22 the UK asylum system cost £2.1 billion and spending has increased rapidly in the last few years. The effectiveness of the asylum system depends on well-functioning case-working at the Home Office to support timely and accurate decisions. Making decisions quickly, fairly and accurately is important for the wellbeing of vulnerable service users, the …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Transformation Programme	HC 1334	27 Oct 2023	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items

13 Conclusion Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans… Not Addressed

Home Office business case lacks broad assessment of economic and departmental impacts of increased decisions.

While the Programme aims to increase the number of asylum decisions that the Home Office makes, the Home Office acknowledged that it has not looked broadly enough at benefits and costs beyond the asylum and protection team of increasing decisions.33 For example, its business case does not account for economic …

Government response. The government states it will not publish the Programme’s Business Case, as it is not standard practice, but offers a private meeting to explain how impacts were modelled once HM Treasury approval is received.

HM Treasury

19 Conclusion Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans… Not Addressed

Home Office fails to provide clarity on financial savings from asylum hotel room-sharing.

The Home Office explained that, as a way to limit the number of hotels it is using, it will accommodate more people in each hotel by increasing the amount of room-sharing.55 It told us that it had so far increased the number of beds available in hotels by a number …

Government response. The government disagrees with the committee's observation, reiterating its plan to reduce reliance on hotels by optimising existing use, increasing room sharing, and delivering alternative accommodation, stating it has begun closing over 50 hotels. It does not provide the specific …

HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
10 Jul 2023	Abi Tierney · HM Passport Office and UK Visas and Immigration, Simon Ridley · Home Office, Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE · Home Office	View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters

Date	Direction	Title
15 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence from Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Off…
19 Sep 2023	—	Correspondence from Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE, Permanent Secretary, Home Off…