Conclusion 10

We were concerned by the amount of public money the Home Office has spent on these projects, which have either been abandoned or have not delivered the expected benefits. During our evidence session, we questioned the Home Office on this, and it stressed again that it “acted with pace” to meet Ministers’ expectations and address a need to find additional asylum accommodation.24 It acknowledged that while this urgency was well-intentioned and aimed at responding to challenging circumstances, it “should have gone more slowly” so more due diligence could have been completed before it acquired these sites.25 The Home Office stated that it has already “embedded” lessons into its future strategy to improve decision-making and told us it will ensure a better balance between operating at pace and undertaking due diligence in future acquisitions.26 Understanding the risks and costs