Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
6
Recommendation
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
We are disappointed that, despite the Committee previously raising concerns, the Permanent Secretary is still not providing the necessary transparency to enable Parliament to hold the Home Office to account on its asylum and immigration plans. We have previously raised concerns about the Accounting Officer’s transparency to Parliament. Despite this, …
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We are disappointed that, despite the Committee previously raising concerns, the Permanent Secretary is still not providing the necessary transparency to enable Parliament to hold the Home Office to account on its asylum and immigration plans. We have previously raised concerns about the Accounting Officer’s transparency to Parliament. Despite this, the Home Office published the summary Accounting Officer Assessment for the Sovereign Borders Programme nine months late, and 15 months after it approved the programme. The assessment did not cover the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act, despite this representing a major change to asylum policy. The Accounting Officer asserts that it is up to ministers when to make these assessments public, but other departments have repeatedly shared assessments in a much more timely manner, without Ministerial approval being a barrier. The Accounting Officer was also unwilling to share any details on negotiations with other countries over other potential third country asylum processing partnerships. While respecting the need for a level of confidentiality, we are concerned at the Home Office’s unwillingness to engage with the Committee on its only “plan B”. Recommendation 6: As a matter of urgency, and no later than one month after the publication of this report, the Home Office should: • Publish all outstanding Accounting Officer Assessments, including those where there has been a significant change to an ongoing programme, and in the future should publish all Accounting Officer Assessments in a timely manner; and • Write to the Committee to explain how it intends to share information about negotiations with other countries it is considering for third country processing, while respecting confidentiality. 8 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 1 Planning in a fast-moving policy environment
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Government response AI summary
The Home Office commits to producing and publishing outstanding Accounting Officer Assessments as quickly as possible, pending ministerial views, but indicates some will not be published yet due to ongoing discussions. On negotiations, it will write to the Committee in due course but maintains the …
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
We asked the Home Office how many people it planned to remove under the Illegal Migration Act. At our evidence session, the Home Office told us that it estimated at 28 December 2023 there were 33,000 people that the Home Secretary would have a duty to remove under the Act.8 …
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We asked the Home Office how many people it planned to remove under the Illegal Migration Act. At our evidence session, the Home Office told us that it estimated at 28 December 2023 there were 33,000 people that the Home Secretary would have a duty to remove under the Act.8 We asked whether the Home Office had a duty to remove the additional 6,700 people who had crossed the Channel to date in 2024. The Home Office told us that it did not have an exact number of how many people were considered as being inadmissible and that it would have a duty to remove. It accepted that the total figure was at that point probably in excess of 40,000, and noted that the next statistics would be published in May.9 The latest statistics, published on 22 April 2024, showed there were more than 50,000 people living in the UK with no ability to claim asylum, who the Home Secretary will have a duty to remove.10 The Home Office also told us that it was extending its Voluntary Returns Service to offer failed asylum seekers £3,000 to relocate to Rwanda if they have not accepted to go back to their own country. The Home Office was unable to tell us how many more people could be relocated to Rwanda under this arrangement.11
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Government response AI summary
The government notes the committee's observations but states they are no longer relevant as the Migration Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is ending, meaning no removals will take place under this scheme.
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HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
The Home Office has estimated that it would cost £11,000 to fly each relocated individual to Rwanda. Witnesses told us that this was an internal estimate and actual costs would depend on a number of variables. The Home Office will also need to pay additional costs to escort people to …
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The Home Office has estimated that it would cost £11,000 to fly each relocated individual to Rwanda. Witnesses told us that this was an internal estimate and actual costs would depend on a number of variables. The Home Office will also need to pay additional costs to escort people to Rwanda but did not provide an estimate of these as they will depend on the number of flights and the risk assessment of the individual. It expects to incur costs of £12.6 million in 2024–25 for training escorts and then £1 million per year thereafter to scale up its operations to run regular flights.15 The Home Office contracts Mitie to provide escorts for its existing removals. We therefore asked why the Home Office needed to pay additional money if its contract with Mitie was to provide trained escorts. However, at the evidence session, the Home Office was not able to explain its contractor’s—Mitie—contractual obligations and why it was paying such large sums to train escorts when Mitie already provided these.16 It subsequently wrote to us to explain that these costs relate to the recruitment and training of new staff. The Home Office told us this was necessary to ensure there is the right number of trained escorts to run the scheme and that these were additional costs.17
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Government response AI summary
The government stated it has already provided details on overall Rwanda partnership funding and confirmed the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be ending, meaning no removals to Rwanda.
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HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
Accounting Officers are responsible for approving, in advance, all significant initiatives, policies, programmes and projects, and should provide assurance to Parliament that those activities are meeting the accounting officer standards set out in Managing Public Money – regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.42 In April 2022, the Accounting Officer …
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Accounting Officers are responsible for approving, in advance, all significant initiatives, policies, programmes and projects, and should provide assurance to Parliament that those activities are meeting the accounting officer standards set out in Managing Public Money – regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.42 In April 2022, the Accounting Officer assessed that they were not able to conclude the third country asylum processing policy, under which the Rwanda partnership falls, would be value for money as there was insufficient evidence that it would deter enough people from making illegal journeys to the UK. They requested a ministerial direction to proceed with the policy and this remained in place at the time of the evidence session. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessment of value for money under constant review. They explained that it should be possible to see whether there is a deterrent effect once flights are running.43
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Government response AI summary
The government stated it has already provided details on overall Rwanda partnership funding and confirmed the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be ending, meaning the value-for-money assessment for the scheme is no longer relevant.
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HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
The Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees have repeatedly questioned the Home Office about the lack of information available to Parliament on costs the Rwanda partnership.48 Despite raising these concerns over the Accounting Officer’s willingness to share information with Parliament in a timely manner, we were disappointed …
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The Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees have repeatedly questioned the Home Office about the lack of information available to Parliament on costs the Rwanda partnership.48 Despite raising these concerns over the Accounting Officer’s willingness to share information with Parliament in a timely manner, we were disappointed that the summary Accounting Officer Assessment on the Sovereign Borders Programme was only published in April 2024 when it had been agreed by the Home Office in June 2023. Further, the programme was approved by the Home Office’s finance and investment committee in January 2023, meaning that the assessment was published some 15 months after the programme was approved. The Committee also noted that the assessment was shared with the Committee on 27 March 2024, after the Easter recess had begun, limiting the time for Parliamentary scrutiny.49
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the importance of producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) and commits to producing new ones promptly, but states implementation dates are to be advised and ministerial views remain part of the process, which the committee identified as a cause for delay.
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HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
We therefore asked the Accounting Officer (AO) why there had been such a delay in sharing the assessment with Parliament. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessments under constant review, but that the publication of AO assessment summaries has to be agreed by relevant Ministers. They explained …
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We therefore asked the Accounting Officer (AO) why there had been such a delay in sharing the assessment with Parliament. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessments under constant review, but that the publication of AO assessment summaries has to be agreed by relevant Ministers. They explained that, on the Sovereign Borders Programme, the Home Secretary had decided to make it public in March 2024. We reminded the Accounting Officer that he is accountable to the Public Accounts Committee and Parliament, noting that other departments have shared assessments in a much more timely manner, without Ministerial approval being a barrier.50 HM Treasury guidance states that departments need to publish summary assessments promptly when a project is included in the Government Major Projects Portfolio. In some cases, the timing might depend on other sensitivities, such as commercial confidentiality, and the accounting officer may decide public interest is best served by delaying publication. In such circumstances, the Accounting Officer should nonetheless still share a copy of the summary assessment on a confidential basis with the chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and relevant departmental committees, along with an explanation of the need 47 Qq 123, 129–130, 132; C&AG’s Report, UK-Rwanda partnership, para 10 48 Public Accounts Committee, Oral Evidence; Reducing the harm from illegal drugs, 4 December 2023, Qq 1–50 49 Qq 1, 7, 14, 22, 27; Letter from Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Chair, Public Accounts Committee, Home Office Sovereign Borders Programme: Summary Accounting Officer Assessment, dated 27 March 2024 50 Qq 1–4, 10–13 18 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership for confidentiality. In written evidence provided after the evidence session, HM Treasury noted that there may be circumstances where the accounting officer determines they are unable to share information with the Committee as they
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the importance of producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) and commits to producing new ones promptly, but states implementation dates are to be advised and ministerial views remain part of the process.
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HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommoda…
Acknowledged
When asked for an update, the Home Office said that it was important that the substance of any negotiations with any other countries was kept private, and that it would not share the information in public. We noted that it was important that the Committee, and the Home Affairs Committee, …
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When asked for an update, the Home Office said that it was important that the substance of any negotiations with any other countries was kept private, and that it would not share the information in public. We noted that it was important that the Committee, and the Home Affairs Committee, were as updated as possible on these matters. The Accounting Officer offered to “pursue the possibility of briefing a number of you behind 51 HM Treasury, Accounting Officer Assessments – Guidance,_May_2023, part 4; Letter from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Follow up to 15 April – Asylum Accommodation and UK Rwanda partnership, dated 8 May 2024, paras 12–17 52 Qq 11–12, 16; Letter from Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP and Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP, Chairs, Public Accounts Committee and Home Affairs Committee - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership, dated 25 April 2024 53 Letter from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Follow up to 15 April – Asylum Accommodation and UK Rwanda partnership, dated 8 May 2024, paras 2 - 6 54 Qq 16, 18–19 55 Letter from Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Secretary, Home Office, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP and Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP, Chairs, Public Accounts Committee and Home Affairs Committee – Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership, dated 25 April 2024 56 Qq 30–32, 39–40, 64–66, 77, 82, 106 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 19 the scenes”. They acknowledged that there would be a significant lead time, similar to that of the Rwanda partnership, to agree to and implement any further partnerships.57 The Home Office provided written evidence after the session and confirmed that, working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, it had approached other countries to assess their level of interest in working with the UK as third country asylum partners.
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Government response AI summary
The government maintains that details of negotiations with other countries for third-country processing must remain private due to sensitivity, but states it will write to the new Committee in due course to provide updates as necessary.
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HM Treasury