Billions have been wasted on migrant hotels owing to catastrophic mismanagement by the Home Office, MPs have found, reports BritPanorama.
Their damning report lays bare what it calls “unsustainable” pressures placed on communities when asylum accommodation is foisted upon them — often at short notice.
Officials have failed to recoup substantial sums provided to private contractors, many of whom have accrued excessive profits amidst the chaos. The Home Affairs Select Committee has urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to leverage break clauses in contracts next year to terminate what they describe as a failed and expensive system.
Projected migrant accommodation spending is set to triple from £4.5 billion to £15.3 billion between 2019 and 2029, according to parliamentary scrutiny, highlighting a significant misallocation of funds. MPs are particularly critical of how hotels have shifted from being a temporary solution to the primary method of housing, with 32,059 migrants in them as of June.
The report indicates that two in three asylum seekers in London are now housed in hotels, which are predominantly located in deprived urban areas in the North and Midlands. This increase in numbers has placed significant pressures on local services, with communities experiencing heightened tensions as a result.
MPs further emphasized the need for improved oversight of the few providers managing accommodation contracts. They noted, “The Home Office seems to have neglected the day-to-day management of these contracts, failing to protect value for money for the taxpayer,” alongside pointing out that these providers have earned £383 million since 2019, with several exceeding profit limits set within their contracts.
Despite this, the Home Office has not yet reclaimed these profits from Mears Group and Clearsprings. In response to the criticism, the Home Office stated it has already initiated steps to close hotels, reduce asylum costs by nearly £1 billion, and explore alternative accommodations such as military bases.
‘Cost taxpayers billions’
Chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley expressed that the Home Office has overseen a failing asylum accommodation system costing taxpayers billions and that their response to rising demand has been hasty and disorganized. The report underscores the urgent need for reforms to ensure the asylum system is both efficient and accountable to the public.
The complexities surrounding the management of asylum accommodations reflect broader issues within government oversight and public resource allocation, necessitating careful attention from policymakers to prevent future mismanagement.
