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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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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Conclusions (14)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.