Recommendation 25

We raised concerns that local authorities often do not receive early notice of accommodation decisions. We referred to previous examples, including Northeye and the Bibby Stockholm, where local authorities had not been consulted early enough.61 The Home Office told us it had introduced new “asylum accommodation plans,” agreed jointly with local authorities, although these are not published.62 It said it has “monthly meetings at a regional level” with councils and providers and that engagement with local government has “significantly improved”.63 In 2023, the previous Public 58 C&AG’s Report, Figure 5 59 Qq 5, 21 60 Q26; HM Government, Restoring Order and Control, Secretary of State for the Home Department, CP 1418, 21 November 2025, p 16 61 Qq 106-110 62 Q 109 63 Q 105 18 Accounts Committee recommended that the Home Office set out how it would give local authorities a more meaningful say over the use of asylum accommodation in their areas.64 In its Treasury Minutes Progress Report, the Home Office stated that implementation of this recommendation had been delayed from December 2025 to September 2026.65 When specifically asked about this during our evidence session, the Home Office said that it was continuing to work with local authorities on designing these arrangements and “increasing the amount of engagement” it does “on a day-by-day basis”.66