UK authorities struggles to chop overseas support spent on asylum accommodations

The federal government is struggling to chop the quantity of overseas support it spends on resort payments for asylum seekers within the UK, the BBC has learnt.

New figures launched quietly by ministers in current days present the House Workplace plans to spend £2.2bn of abroad improvement help (ODA) this monetary 12 months – that’s solely marginally lower than the £2.3bn it spent in 2024/25.

The cash is basically used to cowl the lodging prices of 1000’s of asylum seekers who’ve not too long ago arrived within the UK.

The House Workplace stated it was dedicated to ending asylum accommodations and was rushing up asylum selections to avoid wasting taxpayers’ cash.

The figures had been contained in a House Workplace “main estimates memorandum” given to MPs on the House Affairs Committee and revealed on its web site on Could 30.

The BBC additionally understands the House Workplace is working with the Better Manchester mixed authority on plans to extend the quantity of dispersal lodging accessible for asylum seekers, with the hope it might scale back the usage of accommodations.

The provision of dispersal lodging – which is longer-term, momentary housing – has not stored tempo with report ranges of asylum functions.

Overseas support is meant to be spent assuaging poverty by offering humanitarian and improvement help abroad.

However beneath worldwide guidelines, governments can spend a few of their overseas support budgets at house to assist asylum seekers through the first 12 months after their arrival.

In response to the latest House Workplace figures, there are about 32,000 asylum seekers in accommodations within the UK.

Labour promised in its manifesto to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds”.

Contracts signed by the Conservative authorities in 2019 had been anticipated to see £4.5bn of public money paid to a few corporations to accommodate asylum seekers over a 10-year interval.

However a report by spending watchdog the Nationwide Audit Workplace (NAO) in Could stated that quantity was anticipated to be £15.3bn.

On June 3, House Secretary Yvette Cooper informed the House Affairs Committee she was “concerned about the level of money” being spent on asylum seekers’ lodging and added: “We need to end asylum hotels altogether.”

The House Workplace stated it was attempting to bear down on the numbers by decreasing the time asylum seekers can enchantment in opposition to selections. It is usually planning to introduce tighter monetary eligibility checks to make sure solely these with out means are housed.

However Whitehall officers and worldwide charities have stated the House Workplace has no incentive to cut back ODA spending as a result of the cash doesn’t come out of its budgets.

The size of presidency support spending on asylum accommodations has meant big cuts in UK assist for humanitarian and improvement priorities internationally.

These cuts have been exacerbated by the federal government’s reductions to the general ODA price range. In February, Sir Keir Starmer stated he would reduce support spending from 0.5% of gross nationwide revenue to 0.3% by 2027 – a fall in absolute phrases of about £14bn to some £9bn.

Such was the size of support spending on asylum accommodations lately that the earlier Conservative authorities gave the Overseas Workplace an additional £2bn to shore up its humanitarian commitments abroad. However Labour has refused to match that dedication.

Gideon Rabinowitz, director of coverage on the Bond community of improvement organisations, stated: “Cutting the UK aid budget while using it to prop up Home Office costs is a reckless repeat of decisions taken by the previous Conservative government.

“Diverting £2.2bn of UK support to cowl asylum lodging within the UK is unsustainable, poor worth for cash, and comes on the expense of important improvement and humanitarian programmes tackling the foundation causes of poverty, battle and displacement.

“It is essential that we support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, but the government should not be robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Sarah Champion, chair of the Worldwide Growth Committee, stated the federal government was introducing “savage cuts” to its ODA spending, risking the UK’s improvement priorities and worldwide popularity, whereas “Home Office raids on the aid budget” had barely decreased.

“Aid is meant to help the poorest and most vulnerable across the world: to alleviate poverty, improve life chances and reduce the risk of conflict,” she stated. “Allowing the Home Office to spend it in the UK makes this task even harder.”

“The government must get a grip on spending aid in the UK,” she stated. “The Spending Review needs to finally draw a line under this perverse use of taxpayer money designed to keep everyone safe and prosperous in their own homes, not funding inappropriate, expensive accommodation here.”

Shadow house secretary Chris Philp stated: “Labour promised in their manifesto to end the use of asylum hotels for illegal immigrants. But the truth is there are now thousands more illegal migrants being housed in hotels under Labour.

“Now these paperwork reveal that Labour are utilizing overseas support to pay for asylum resort lodging – yet one more promise damaged.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We inherited an asylum system beneath distinctive strain, and proceed to take motion, restoring order, and scale back prices. It will in the end scale back the quantity of Official Growth Help spent to assist asylum seekers and refugees within the UK.

“We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4bn by 2026.”