Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 26
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 ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Assessing the deterrent effect, and thus value for money, of the scheme will be complex. The Home Office recognised that it will be difficult to isolate the impact of the Rwanda partnership from other government policies intended to stop small boat crossings and reduce illegal migration, such as the agreement with Albania to return failed asylum seekers, work with French authorities to prevent boat crossings and wider work with countries from where asylum seekers originate.44 We asked the Home Office about its progress in developing a methodology to assess the deterrent effect and therefore determine value for money of the scheme. The Home Office told us that it had “not yet set out exactly what will go into the assessment” as it had not begun the flights.45 It explained that, given the variables involved, and complexity of demonstrating causality, it was planning to undertake a combination of qualitative and quantitative work to assess the scheme’s impact. This will include understanding the motivations of individuals who have not made crossings and the way that criminal gangs operate. However, despite the complexity of the task, it had not yet determined how to collect data on people that would have come, but now are not.46 41 Qq 114, 117–118, 143–144 42 HM Treasury, Accounting Officer Assessments – Guidance, May 2023 para 1.2 43 Qq 113, 117, 148; C&AG’s Report. UK-Rwanda partnership, para 1.8 44 Qq 114, 120 45 Qq 146–147 46 Qq 145, 148–151 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 17
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.