Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
3
Conclusion
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
The Home Office does not have a credible plan for ending the use of hotels to accommodate people waiting for a decision and the unacceptable cost this creates. The Home Office spent £2.3 billion on hotels in 2022–23 to accommodate people waiting for their asylum decision. In April 2023, there …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, explaining that the use of hotels was a short-term measure and a plan is in place to reduce reliance, including closing over 50 hotels by January 2024. However, it states that modelling future demand …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
The Home Office does not have adequate safeguards to protect against the risks of vulnerable people having to share accommodation with strangers. The Home Office has written to councils informing them that the number of people staying in hotels will double. It plans to achieve this by making people share …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, explaining that it already has a comprehensive safeguarding approach in place, with existing strategies, trained staff, collaboration with stakeholders, robust processes, and a Safeguarding Hub to identify vulnerabilities and manage risks for asylum seekers.
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
The Home Office failed to convince us that it understands the full implications of its programme on the wider asylum system, affecting the ability of others to plan. The current business case for the asylum and protection transformation programme is incomplete and unrealistic. The Home Office acknowledged that it has …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating it does not intend to publish the business case as it is not standard practice. Instead, it offers to hold a private meeting with the Committee once HM Treasury approves the business case, …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
The Home Office told us it would include a wider range of costs and benefits in the next iteration of its business case, which it plans to produce early in 2024.36 It had previously told the NAO it would update the business case in Summer 2023.37 We note that the …
Government response. The government rejects the committee's implied recommendation to publish the business case, stating it is not standard practice, but offers a private meeting to discuss it once HM Treasury approval is received by Summer 2024.
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
In 2022–23, the Home Office spent £2.3 billion on hotels to accommodate people waiting for a decision on their asylum claim and in April 2023, there were 48,000 people waiting for a decision in hotels.39 In his statement to the House on 13 December 2022, the Prime Minister said that …
Government response. The government rejects the committee's implied criticism regarding hotel usage and bed provision, detailing a plan to reform asylum accommodation, reduce reliance on hotels by closing over 50 by January 2024, and continually review modelling assumptions.
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
The Home Office said it is very difficult to estimate how many people will claim asylum because of uncertain migration patterns, but that it has low, medium and high scenarios that it uses for planning purposes.53 When we asked the Home Office when it planned to stop using hotels for …
Government response. The government rejects the committee's implied recommendation for better planning, stating it has a clear plan to reform asylum accommodation, including closing over 50 hotels by January 2024, and will continue to review modelling assumptions despite inherent uncertainties.
HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
Seventy-Sixth Report - The Asylum Trans…
Rejected
When we asked the Home Office how it was ensuring the safety of the people it is pairing up to share a hotel room, it was unable to clearly articulate its plans and said that there “might be people for whom it is not appropriate if they share”.67 It said …
Government response. The government rejected the recommendation, stating it disagrees and that its existing safeguarding strategy, which includes staff training, collaboration with statutory agencies, and a Safeguarding Hub, already ensures the welfare and safety of asylum seekers.
HM Treasury