Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Thirty-Fourth Report - Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership
Public Accounts Committee
HC 639
Published 29 May 2024
Recommendations
2
Accepted
Mandate Home Office to detail future due diligence processes protecting taxpayers' money on projects.
Recommendation
In its haste to establish large accommodation sites, the Home Office made unacceptable and avoidable mistakes, and failed to protect value for money. The Home Office asserts that its need to deal with a “national emergency” meant it had to …
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Government Response Summary
The Home Office has restructured the programme to deliver smaller sites, improved technical construction expertise for cost estimation, brought forward due diligence, and improved engagement with local authorities, with accounting officer assessments and business cases now completed for each site.
HM Treasury
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6
Acknowledged
Urgently publish outstanding Accounting Officer Assessments and explain third country processing negotiations.
Recommendation
We are disappointed that, despite the Committee previously raising concerns, the Permanent Secretary is still not providing the necessary transparency to enable Parliament to hold the Home Office to account on its asylum and immigration plans. We have previously raised …
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Government Response Summary
The Home Office commits to producing and publishing outstanding Accounting Officer Assessments as quickly as possible, pending ministerial views, but indicates some will not be published yet due to ongoing discussions. On negotiations, it will write to the Committee in due course but maintains the sensitive nature requires privacy.
HM Treasury
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23
Accepted
Home Office has improved liaison with local authorities to manage asylum accommodation impacts.
Recommendation
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, …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, committing to establish a working group with local authorities, share regular data via existing and new tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool, and build and share a Place Based Visibility Tool once plans are confirmed.
HM Treasury
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30
Deferred
The Accounting Officer told us that he received regular advice on a range of Home...
Recommendation
The Accounting Officer told us that he received regular advice on a range of Home Office issues including each part, and the totality, of the programme of activity to stop the crossings of small boats and deter illegal migration. The …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees to produce Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) for required programmes, but no target implementation date can be provided yet as it depends on project development and ministerial views. Discussions on some programmes mean AOAs will not yet be published.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (28)
3
Conclusion
Accepted
We are not convinced the Home Office has put in place sufficient measures to safeguard those pending relocation while they wait to hear what will happen 6 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership to them. The Home Office is not processing asylum claims for more than 50,000 people who have arrived …
Government Response Summary
The Home Office commits to writing to the Committee quarterly, detailing the service credits (penalties) applied in each region for accommodation safety, habitability, and fitness for purpose KPIs.
4
Conclusion
Accepted
We are concerned that the Home Office has not engaged effectively with local authorities about the impact its work is having on local areas. The Home Office is making progress in its plans to reduce its use of hotels. By the end of March, it had exited 100 hotels, with …
Government Response Summary
The Home Office will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues. It is also building tools, such as a weekly Discontinuation Prediction Tool and a future Place Based Visibility Tool, to share data with local authorities for better planning and management of asylum cases.
5
Conclusion
Rejected
The Home Office does not yet know how it will evaluate the impact and value for money of the Rwanda partnership. The success of the Rwanda partnership is dependent on whether it deters people from making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK, including small boat crossings. The Home Office …
Government Response Summary
The government will not proceed with developing an evaluation strategy or assessing value for money because the Migration and Economic Development Partnership policy has been ceased.
1
Conclusion
Accepted
On the basis of two reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Home Office about its partnership with the Government of Rwanda and its plans to accommodate people seeking asylum.1
Government Response Summary
The government confirms the funds paid to Rwanda as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) and states that the partnership has now ended, with no removals to Rwanda to take place under the MEDP.
7
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked the Home Office how many people it planned to remove under the Illegal Migration Act. At our evidence session, the Home Office told us that it estimated at 28 December 2023 there were 33,000 people that the Home Secretary would have a duty to remove under the Act.8 …
Government Response Summary
The government notes the committee's observations but states they are no longer relevant as the Migration Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda is ending, meaning no removals will take place under this scheme.
8
Conclusion
Not Addressed
The Home Office confirmed that the agreement with Rwanda was designed to start relocations quickly and then scale up to significant volumes of people. We asked about the Home Office’s ability to manage the practical implications of relocating people, and the capacity of Rwanda to accept and accommodate them. The …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details past costs and confirms the ending of the Rwanda partnership, entirely failing to address the committee's observations and questions regarding Rwanda's capacity to accommodate relocated individuals.
9
Conclusion
Not Addressed
The Home Office acknowledged that there were many constraints that it would have to take into account when running the programme of relocations, and told us that it had developed plans and contingency options. It told us that its operational plans depended on the “flow” of relocations, but did not …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details past costs and confirms the ending of the Rwanda partnership, completely failing to address the committee's concerns about detailed operational planning and contingencies for relocations.
10
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Home Office has estimated that it would cost £11,000 to fly each relocated individual to Rwanda. Witnesses told us that this was an internal estimate and actual costs would depend on a number of variables. The Home Office will also need to pay additional costs to escort people to …
Government Response Summary
The government stated it has already provided details on overall Rwanda partnership funding and confirmed the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be ending, meaning no removals to Rwanda.
11
Conclusion
Accepted
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 …
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.
12
Conclusion
Accepted
The Home Office has established four large accommodation sites – the Bibby Stockholm vessel in Dorset, former RAF bases in Wethersfield, Essex and Scampton, Lincolnshire, and former student accommodation in Huddersfield. The Home Office estimated that, by the end of March 2024, it had spent £230 million on the sites, …
Government Response Summary
The government has restructured the large sites programme to deliver smaller sites, improved cost profiling and technical expertise, and now completes value for money assessments for each site earlier to reduce cost and commercial risk.
13
Conclusion
Accepted
We were concerned by the Home Office’s assessment of the set-up costs to convert the two former RAF bases to accommodation. At the outset, the Home Office estimated that such costs would be £5 million for each site, but the costs increased to £49 million at Wethersfield and £27 million …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states measures have been implemented to address weaknesses in cost estimation and project delivery, including restructuring the programme, improving technical construction expertise, ensuring value for money assessments and business cases for sites, and conducting earlier due diligence.
14
Conclusion
Not Addressed
We asked the Home Office why it had not submitted to competition five of the contracts relating to the new sites, worth £243 million of the £253 million it had spent through contracts. The Home Office told us that it used framework agreements for some 18 Q 159; HM Treasury, …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, outlining measures to improve cost profiling, technical expertise, and due diligence for site selection and delivery, but does not address the committee's concerns about the lack of competition in past contracts or provide assurance for future competitive tendering.
15
Conclusion
Accepted
We asked the Home Office whether it was still satisfied that it was getting value for money, given the costs of the accommodation and the fact that capacity was much lower than anticipated. The Home Office’s latest assessment of value for money from January 2024 suggests that, in total, large …
Government Response Summary
The government has restructured the large sites programme to deliver smaller sites, improved cost profiling and technical expertise, and now completes value for money assessments for each site earlier to reduce cost and commercial risk.
16
Conclusion
Accepted
The Illegal Migration Bill was first introduced to Parliament in March 2023, and since this time the Home Office has not been processing claims for the majority of people arriving in small boats and through other irregular means. We remarked that at the time of our evidence session, individuals could …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, outlining existing processes for safeguarding, welfare, accommodation standards, and health checks for individuals whose cases are under consideration, but does not address the issue of individuals being left 'in limbo' due to processing delays.
17
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Many of those subject to removal will be living in Home Office accommodation, such as hotels or large sites, despite being unable to claim asylum in the UK. The Home Office spent an estimated £4.7 billion on asylum support (which covers accommodation, and financial subsistence for those who would otherwise …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, but the response details existing welfare and safeguarding provisions for asylum seekers, completely failing to address the committee's concerns about the sustainability of current spending on accommodation or the use of ODA.
18
Conclusion
Accepted
The Home Office is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of people in its care, whether they are claiming asylum or pending relocation. But the National Audit Office reported that, in January 2024, the Home Office was still developing specific measures to assess how well providers were keeping residents safe …
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees and has implemented the recommendation, detailing existing procedures for safeguarding, welfare, health checks, and ensuring safe accommodation for asylum seekers, but does not specifically commit to developing new measures to assess provider performance on safety or to clarify how concerns can be raised as implied by the committee's conclusion.
19
Conclusion
Accepted
The Home Office told us that health and welfare of migrants was “baked into” the way that it runs the sites and the contracts with suppliers. It said there were clear key performance indicators (KPIs) on accommodation being safe and habitable and that the providers have welfare teams on site. …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that contracts include mechanisms for service credits for failing to meet KPIs on accommodation safety and habitability, and commits to providing the Committee with quarterly reports detailing these service credits applied in each region, starting October 2024.
20
Conclusion
Accepted
Since 2020, the Home Office has increasingly used hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum, as demand for accommodation increased and there was an insufficient supply of alternative accommodation. In October 2023, the Home Office announced that it intended to stop using some of its 400 asylum hotels in the coming …
Government Response Summary
The government will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues related to asylum casework and move-on, and commits to sharing regular, timely data and management information through tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool and the forthcoming Place Based Visibility Tool.
21
Conclusion
Accepted
We have heard reports, including from our own constituencies, that some hotels have been left in derelict conditions following the Home Office exiting them. We received written evidence from London Councils which told us that there were concerns across the London boroughs about the standards of accommodation, including (but not …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will establish a working group with local authorities to address issues related to "Move On" from asylum accommodation and will implement tools for sharing regular, timely data to help local authorities plan for smoother transitions and anticipate demand on their services.
22
Conclusion
Accepted
The National Audit Office reported that the increase in asylum decisions had placed greater pressure on local authorities to support refugees in finding accommodation, and increased the risk of homelessness and rough sleeping.35 We received written evidence from the London Councils, which told us that there were 311 refugees sleeping …
Government Response Summary
The government will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues related to asylum casework and move-on, and commits to sharing regular, timely data and management information through tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool and the forthcoming Place Based Visibility Tool.
24
Conclusion
Rejected
The success—and value for money—of the Rwanda partnership depends on whether it deters people from making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK, including small boat crossings. In 2023, the Home Office estimated that illegal entries need to reduce by one third from 2022 levels for the policy to represent …
Government Response Summary
The government notes the recommendation, stating that the evaluation of deterrent impact and value for money for the MEDP policy will not proceed because the policy's operationalisation has ceased.
25
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Accounting Officers are responsible for approving, in advance, all significant initiatives, policies, programmes and projects, and should provide assurance to Parliament that those activities are meeting the accounting officer standards set out in Managing Public Money – regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.42 In April 2022, the Accounting Officer …
Government Response Summary
The government stated it has already provided details on overall Rwanda partnership funding and confirmed the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be ending, meaning the value-for-money assessment for the scheme is no longer relevant.
26
Conclusion
Rejected
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 …
Government Response Summary
The government states that the evaluation of the deterrent impact and value for money for the MEDP policy will not proceed because the policy's operationalisation has ceased.
27
Conclusion
Accepted
The National Audit Office found that the Home Office had established arrangements to test whether the partnership was working and to oversee payments. We asked whether payments would stop if an individual left Rwanda, and how the Home Office would know if this had happened. The Home Office explained that …
Government Response Summary
The Home Office has already set out the funds paid to the Government of Rwanda and confirmed it will be ending the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, so there will be no removals to Rwanda under the MEDP.
28
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees have repeatedly questioned the Home Office about the lack of information available to Parliament on costs the Rwanda partnership.48 Despite raising these concerns over the Accounting Officer’s willingness to share information with Parliament in a timely manner, we were disappointed …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the importance of producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) and commits to producing new ones promptly, but states implementation dates are to be advised and ministerial views remain part of the process, which the committee identified as a cause for delay.
29
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We therefore asked the Accounting Officer (AO) why there had been such a delay in sharing the assessment with Parliament. The Accounting Officer told us that they kept their assessments under constant review, but that the publication of AO assessment summaries has to be agreed by relevant Ministers. They explained …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the importance of producing Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs) and commits to producing new ones promptly, but states implementation dates are to be advised and ministerial views remain part of the process.
31
Conclusion
Deferred
The Home Office told us that the number of people that could be relocated to Rwanda under the partnership is uncapped. We asked about its ability to scale up to relocate more than 50,000 people to Rwanda and if it had a “plan B” if flights to Rwanda could not …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees in principle to address the issues raised, but states that target implementation dates are "to be advised" as they are dependent on project development and ministerial views, and defers updates on negotiations to "in due course."
32
Conclusion
Acknowledged
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, …
Government Response Summary
The government maintains that details of negotiations with other countries for third-country processing must remain private due to sensitivity, but states it will write to the new Committee in due course to provide updates as necessary.