Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership
Published 29 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Home Office told us that it was not “cloth-eared” to the issues that local authorities faced, and that it included the challenges facing local authorities as part of its assessment of which hotels to close and in what order, but could not take responsibility for the whole housing market. It said it was now liaising directly with local authorities “in a way that perhaps in the early days we [the Home Office] were not”. It explained that local authorities now have a “place-based visibility tool” where they can see all the accommodation occupied.39 There are also liaison officers working with all local authorities to understand the challenges in local areas. In its written evidence the London Councils told us that progress had been made in sharing intelligence on standards of accommodation, and the National Audit Office reported that the Home Office has started to share more data with local authorities so they have greater sight of the pipeline of refugees they may need to accommodate in the future. However, both London Councils and the Local Government Association told us there still remain significant concerns, and that they were keen to work with the government to develop a more robust cross-system approach to minimise impacts on local housing and homelessness services and reduce the risks of destitution.40 34 Qq 224–227; UKR0010, Written evidence submitted by London Councils, 15 April 2024, page 4 35 C&AG’s Report. Asylum Accommodation, para 2.9 36 UKR0010, page 4 37 UKR0007, Written evidence submitted by The Local Government Association, 15 April 2024, section 3.2 38 UKR0005, Written evidence submitted by The West Lindsey District Council, City of Lincoln Council and Lincolnshire County Council, 15 April 2024 39 Q 226 40 UKR0007, section 3.2; UKR0010; C&AG’s report, Asylum accommodation para 2.9 16 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 3 Measuring success and accountability to Parliament Measuring the success of the Rwanda partnership
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership (HC 639), 29 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 29 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations, says it will end the Rwanda partnership with "no removals to Rwanda under the MEDP", and only notes two recommendations that it describes as no longer relevant or not proceeding.
- On the Rwanda partnership, the government notes the recommendations on quarterly updates and on an evaluation strategy, saying the first is "no longer relevant" and that evaluation of deterrent impact and value for money "will not proceed".
- On large accommodation sites, the government agrees and lists measures including restructuring the programme to deliver smaller sites and earlier due diligence; it says an Infrastructure and Projects Authority review found successful delivery "appears feasible".
- The government agrees to write to the Committee quarterly on service credits applied for accommodation safety KPIs, with a target implementation date of October 2024.
- On Accounting Officer Assessments, the government agrees but gives no date, saying dates are "dependent on project development". It will not yet publish one for the large sites programme, and will write to the new Committee "in due course" on third country negotiations.