Recommendation 19

In May 2024, the previous Public Accounts Committee reported on the Home Office’s development of alternative asylum accommodation to hotels, including large sites at Scampton and Wethersfield, the Bibby Stockholm vessel, and former student accommodation in Huddersfield. The Committee found that the Home Office’s value for money assessments of the large sites fell short of reality and risked wasting taxpayers’ money. It reported that the Home Office expected its Large Sites Programme to cost £1.2 billion.59 Since then, the Home Office has stopped using the Bibby Stockholm vessel and abandoned the Scampton site.60 Also, the Huddersfield site currently remains unused and the Home Office told us it will be opening it in 2025.61 During our evidence session, the Home Office stated it was working “at pace” because the then government needed to find accommodation because it was spending too much on hotels. 62