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
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outstanding Accounting Officer Assessments as quickly as possible, pending ministerial views, but indicates some will not be published yet due to ongoing discussions.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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Conclusions (6)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.