Recommendation 4

The Home Office is failing to engage meaningfully with local authorities on decisions that affect their residents and already strained public services. We have previously reported that the Home Office has not adequately engaged with local stakeholders on asylum accommodation. This continues to be the case. The Home Office acknowledged that its letters about maximising the use of hotels were to inform local authorities of its decision, not to consult them. It has also sent contradictory letters to councils about how much accommodation it intends to source in local areas, and it seemed to have no practical solutions to progress its ‘place-based-approach’. Worryingly, the lack of coordination between the Home Office and local government means the Home Office is competing with councils and their partners to secure accommodation, driving up prices and exacerbating the homelessness challenges that local authorities already face. Recommendation 4: The Home Office should, as part of its Treasury Minute response, set out how its ‘place-based approach’ will give local authorities a meaningful say on the use of accommodation in their areas, and what specific actions it will take to improve its relationships with local authorities. The Asylum Transformation Programme 7