The Herald

‘Little to show’ for millions of pounds spent on Rwanda asylum plan, say MPS

THE Home Office “does not have a credible plan” for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, a group of MPS has warned.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it has “little confidence” in the government department’s ability to put the plan into action, finding it has “little to show” for the millions of pounds spent so far on the policy and its asylum accommodat­ion projects.

In a report published yesterday, the committee said the Home Office has “continuall­y failed to be transparen­t with Parliament about how many people will be relocated, and the potential costs of the programme” as it made a string of recommenda­tions.

It comes as a High Court judge ordered the government to confirm the earliest date it intends to start deportatio­ns, amid legal challenges over the policy, after the Prime Minister admitted flights would not take off before the General Election.

The Home Office is “spending significan­t amounts of money on its asylum and immigratio­n policies” but “despite committing significan­t sums of money to the Rwanda partnershi­p and its large accommodat­ion sites there is little to show for the money spent so far”, the PAC report said.

While the committee welcomed the department’s efforts in moving asylum seekers out of hotels, it found the “assessment of the requiremen­ts for setting up alternativ­e accommodat­ion in large sites fell woefully short of reality and risked wasting taxpayers’ money”, and the new sites “will not house anywhere near as many people as initially expected, exacerbati­ng existing accommodat­ion issues”.

As of April, there were more than 50,000 people living in the UK who had “no ability to claim asylum” and were “officially pending relocation”, but the Home Office was “unable to explain what will happen to these people currently left in limbo”, say the findings.

“We are concerned that the Home Office does not have a credible plan for implementi­ng the Rwanda partnershi­p,” the report concluded, adding: “In its haste to establish large accommodat­ion sites, the Home Office made unacceptab­le and avoidable mistakes, and failed to protect value for money.”

“We are left with little confidence in the Home Office’s ability to implement the Rwanda partnershi­p, and its understand­ing of the costs, particular­ly given its track record in delivering other major programmes,” the committee said.

More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel, as immigratio­n becomes a key election campaign battlegrou­nd.

Rishi Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats” and described the Rwanda plan as an “indispensa­ble deterrent”.

The Home Office and the Conservati­ve Party have been contacted for comment.