Recommendation 24

The second of the IPA reviews, in February 2023, concluded that, while the Home Office had identified learning in relation to the failed site at Linton- on-Ouse, these lessons were not being applied to some of the asylum accommodation sites it was delivering at the time. The IPA stated that the impact of not applying those lessons would likely be a continued high attrition rate of sites.79 The Home Office told us that Linton was the first site in its large sites programme, but it had to be abandoned after the Ministry of Defence withdrew its offer of the site.80 In March 2024, the National Audit Office reported that the Home Office has incurred losses of at least £3.4 million before it found sites to be unsuitable or unavailable. For example, it spent £2.9 million preparing Linton, and paid around £0.5 million to reserve vessels it had embarked as asylum accommodation but was unable to use as it could not secure a suitable port. 81 74 Q 24; C&AG’s Report, para 1.19-1.20 75 Q 24 76 C&AG’s Report, para 2.1 77 C&AG’s Report, para 10 78 C&AG’s Report, para 2.4, Figure 3 79 C&AG’s Report, para 2.4, Figure 3 80 Q 82 81 C&AG’s Report, Asylum accommodation, para 10 19