Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Home Office commits to timely reporting of additional costs for parliamentary scrutiny.
Conclusion
We asked the Home Office how it proposed to report any additional costs to Parliament so that they could be scrutinised. The Accounting Officer told us that he was committed to transparency and reiterated that the costs of the partnership will be set out annually in the annual report and accounts although, on some occasions, the department will bring costs earlier to the Committee. In January 2024, HM Treasury published advice to Accounting Officers on parliamentary communications. This stated that accounting officers should consider sharing information on a timelier and/or more frequent basis for matters with a high degree of parliamentary interest. Where Ministers instruct an accounting officer that the public interest is best served by keeping information confidential (for example if disclosure would undermine the government’s position in commercial negotiations), it may be appropriate for the accounting officer and the Minister to agree whether there 12 Qq 68, 77–78, 80–82 13 Qq 83, 92 14 Qq 127–128; Committee of Public Accounts, The Emergency Services Network, Sixty Fourth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 1006, 14 July 2023, paras 1 and 5 15 Qq 93, 95–97 16 Qq 98–103 17 Qq 102–104; 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 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 11 is the option of sharing the information with the relevant parliamentary committee(s) on a confidential basis and so facilitate scrutiny while maintaining the public interest concerned.18 Making realistic assessments of value for money
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states it has already provided cost information for the Rwanda partnership, detailing specific payments made, and confirms that the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is ending, meaning no further removals or costs will be incurred under this partnership.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 1.2 The Home Office has already set out the funds paid to the Government of Rwanda as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) in a letter to the Committee of 7 December 2023, alongside the department’s cooperation with the National Audit Office and Comptroller & Auditor General’s investigation into the costs of the partnership. Their report of 1 March 2024 accurately sets out the costs paid to Rwanda as part of the partnership. The funding paid to Rwanda is as follows: • £20 million advance payment as part of the operational funding, • £270 million in Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) payments, to support economic development. I can confirm that this includes £50 million paid to Government of Rwanda in April 2024 after the Safety of Rwanda Act received Royal Assent and following the ratification of the UK-Rwanda Treaty: Agreement for the Provision of an Asylum Partnership (‘The Treaty’). 1.3 The government has now confirmed that it will be ending the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, and that there will be no removals to Rwanda under the MEDP.