A damning report from the House of Commons public accounts committee has warned that Labour has 'all but lost control' of the asylum system, painting a 'disturbing picture' of never-ending crisis. The committee blasted the Government for 'shocking' oversights and demanded a major shake-up of the system.
Home Office criticised for 'directionless bureaucracy'
MPs found that the Home Office remains 'at risk of repeating past failures' within a 'directionless bureaucracy'. They expressed dismay at the admission that, according to the most recent data now three years out of date, at least 41,000 failed asylum seekers are awaiting deportation. The Home Office does not know how many have absconded or left voluntarily, which the committee condemned as a 'shocking and unacceptable state of affairs'.
Key findings of the report
- Basic information such as the number of absconders or repeated appeals is incomplete, inconsistent or unavailable.
- MPs demanded a 'complete overhaul' of how the Home Office deals with failed asylum seekers.
- They called for a formal, up-to-date estimate of failed asylum seekers in Britain, how many have absconded, and a timescale for deporting most of them.
Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP said: 'Our report provides an end-to-end snapshot of the entire asylum system, and its findings paint a disturbing picture. At the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost.' He added that the focus on short-term reactive fixes has left the government chasing pressures from one part of the system to the next, with no clear strategy.
Asylum reforms create new bottlenecks
The report said asylum reforms had led to 'repeatedly shifting backlogs rather than reducing them'. Labour's drive to clear a backlog in initial asylum applications simply created new bottlenecks in appeal courts. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's pledge to replace asylum courts with a new independent appeals body suffers from a 'lack of realism'. The report also condemned 'obscene' profits made by suppliers of asylum accommodation.
Senior officials were unable to state what they were aiming to achieve in the asylum system, which the report describes as 'indefensible'. MPs found 'no evidence' the Government learns lessons from earlier mistakes, meaning it is at continued risk of repeating past failures.
Statistics and spending
There were 93,500 asylum claims lodged in Britain in the year to March, down from a record 106,000 in the previous 12 months but more than double pre-pandemic levels. A sampling exercise by the National Audit Office found 41 per cent of asylum seekers who lodged claims in January 2023 were still 'in limbo' with cases unresolved. The Government spent £4.9 billion on asylum in 2024-25. Ministers have announced an 'entirely new asylum model' aiming to cut spending by £1 billion a year by 2028-29, but the committee found no clear plan.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Asylum claims are down, hotel use is falling and immigration enforcement activity is at the highest level on record. We've tracked down and removed nearly 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals since the government took office – a 41 per cent increase. Any asylum seekers who break their bail conditions by absconding will be tracked down and arrested.'
