Labour spending on migrant return scheme nears £40m
Labour has spent almost £40m on a scheme that pays migrants to return to their home country, reports BritPanorama.
Since the party took power in July 2024, the Home Office has significantly increased its use of assisted returns, offering migrants up to £3,000 to leave the UK. As of March this year, 17,346 individuals had accepted the offer, resulting in total expenditures of £35.7m.
In April, an additional £4m was allocated toward yet-to-be-disclosed numbers of migrants, bringing Labour’s total expenditure to £39.7m.
The number of returns has surged from just 6,410 under the previous Conservative government, which incurred costs of £24.2m for a comparable period, according to the latest Home Office data.
Eligibility for the scheme is restricted to those without the right to reside in the UK. Participants receive a pre-paid card loaded with funds to facilitate their reintegration into their home country, and their flights are also covered.
Home Secretary Shaban Mahmood has stated that the voluntary assisted returns programme offers taxpayers value for money, costing significantly less than housing asylum seekers in hotels. Last year, she mentioned the potential for increasing payments to migrants and, in March, she initiated a pilot project that offers up to £40,000 to 150 families to depart the UK.
The Home Office indicated that the average cost of an assisted voluntary return, including flights, is £4,000, in contrast to an average forced return costing around £48,000. Maintaining a family in an asylum hotel amounts to an annual expenditure of £158,000.
On Thursday, Mahmood described Labour’s current approach as a “vital step” towards managing the UK’s borders, highlighting that removals of foreign criminals and individuals illegally residing in the UK have reached a near-decade high, with 6,103 migrants returned following their arrival by small boat.
However, the Conservative Party has asserted that rather than “paying them off,” the government should intensify efforts to prevent illegal migration from occurring in the first place. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized Labour’s strategy, stating, “Labour are paying illegal immigrants to leave instead of stopping them from arriving in the first place.”
Philp further noted that only 7 per cent of small boat arrivals have been returned since the election, and pointed to the enduring challenges within the welfare system and asylum rules that allow illegal immigrants to remain in the UK. The Conservatives have proposed a more stringent approach to ensure all illegal immigrants could be forcibly deported, negating the need for financial incentives to leave.
A Home Office spokesperson defended the current approach, stating that it saves taxpayers millions by encouraging voluntary departures. The government has reported returning over 80,000 individuals through a combination of forced and voluntary returns.
Since 2021, the Home Office has disbursed £83.6m to contractor Prepaid Payment Solutions for the voluntary assisted return initiative, as corroborated by procurement analysts from Tussell.
The funding covers pre-paid cards, their functionality abroad, and a monitoring system related to their use. Participants in the scheme face a “re-entry ban,” which prevents them from returning to the UK for a specified period. Nearly half of last year’s participants were Brazilian nationals, according to Home Office statistics.
The initiative has received support from some advocacy groups, including the Refugee Council, which have argued that the method upholds the dignity of migrants and is economically preferable to detention or forced deportation. Imran Hussain, the Council’s director of external affairs, emphasized that aiding migrants with sufficient time and resources significantly enhances their engagement with the Home Office regarding voluntary return processes.
“A humane returns process must also be part of a wider fair and controlled asylum system that treats people with dignity,” he stated. “That is how the government can restore public confidence.”
