PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: The cost of accommodating asylum seekers in the United Kingdom is now projected to be $20.3 billion, triple the initial $6 billion estimate by the Home Office.
👥 Who’s Involved: The British government, the National Audit Office (NAO), Serco, Mears, Clearsprings, and Britain’s Home Office.
📍 Where & When: United Kingdom, contracts signed in 2019.
💬 Key Quote: A Home Office spokesman blamed the prior Conservative (Tory) government for “disastrous contracts that were wasting millions in taxpayer money.”
⚠️ Impact: Rising costs are attributed to an increase in asylum seekers housed in hotels, with significant profits for private providers and ongoing challenges for the government.
IN FULL:
According to a report by Britain’s National Audit Office (NAO), the financial burden on taxpayers for accommodating asylum seekers is now expected to reach the equivalent of $20.3 billion. This figure is a significant increase from the $6 billion initially projected by the Home Office—roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—when contracts were signed in 2019.
The NAO report highlights that the rising costs are largely driven by the increased number of asylum seekers in hotels. The number of asylum seekers in hotels rose from approximately 47,000 in December 2019 to an anticipated 110,000 by December 2024. Despite hotels accommodating around a third of the asylum seekers, they consume three-quarters of the budget for accommodation.
Contracts were originally signed with three private companies—Serco, Mears, and Clearsprings—to manage asylum accommodation. Between September 2019 and August 2024, these companies reportedly made a combined profit of $511 million. Clearsprings, in particular, saw its contract in the south of England balloon from $0.9 billion to an expected $9.3 billion.
The Home Office, now under the control of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, has faced criticism for its handling of the situation. A spokesman pointed fingers at the previous Conservative government for what they termed “disastrous contracts,” which have led to a significant waste of taxpayer money.
A senior Home Office source attributed the rising accommodation costs to the increase in people crossing the English Channel on small boats, a situation exacerbated by people-smuggling gangs. Despite the surge of migrants crossing the English Channel in recent years, and the migrants plainly not being in danger in France and the other Western European countries they launch from, a report from last year indicated very few have been deported. For instance, as little as 0.5 percent of those who entered illegally in 2023 were ever deported.
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