Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 32
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)
When asked for an update, the Home Office said that it was important that the substance of any negotiations with any other countries was kept private, and that it would not share the information in public. We noted that it was important that the Committee, and the Home Affairs Committee, were as updated as possible on these matters. The Accounting Officer offered to “pursue the possibility of briefing a number of you behind 51 HM Treasury, Accounting Officer Assessments – Guidance,_May_2023, part 4; Letter from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Follow up to 15 April – Asylum Accommodation and UK Rwanda partnership, dated 8 May 2024, paras 12–17 52 Qq 11–12, 16; 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 53 Letter from David Fairbrother, Treasury Officer of Accounts, HM Treasury, to Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP, Follow up to 15 April – Asylum Accommodation and UK Rwanda partnership, dated 8 May 2024, paras 2 - 6 54 Qq 16, 18–19 55 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 56 Qq 30–32, 39–40, 64–66, 77, 82, 106 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 19 the scenes”. They acknowledged that there would be a significant lead time, similar to that of the Rwanda partnership, to agree to and implement any further partnerships.57 The Home Office provided written evidence after the session and confirmed that, working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, it had approached other countries to assess their level of interest in working with the UK as third country asylum partners.
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.