Home Office sources have confirmed to the Guardian that fundamental changes to asylum accommodation are under way in an attempt to save millions spent every day on hotel accommodation.
There are currently about 35,000 asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels - a reduction from a high last year of more than 50,000 people.
In 2023-24, the Home Office spent approximately £4.7bn on asylum support, of which about £3.1bn was spent on hotels.
The previous government hoped that mass accommodation sites such as ex-military bases and the Bibby Stockholm barge moored in Portland, Dorset, would save taxpayers money and remove the optics of asylum seekers leading a life of luxury in hotels. But at a meeting of the cross-party public accounts committee on Monday Home Office bosses admitted that mass accommodation sites on former military bases had not worked as well as planned.
National Audit Office reports found that sites like the Bibby Stockholm barge, which has now been decanted, did not represent good value for money.
This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Maresca 'happy' but Chelsea streak ends
The immediate aim of the Friedkin Group is to restore stability to Everton after their takeover on Thursday. In some ways, Sean Dyche has beaten his new employers to it. High-flying Chelsea became the latest team to run into a royal blue wall and out of ideas as they lost valuable ground in the title race.
The Sphinx's plot Will new Royal Mail owner sell off valuable properties?
Will new Royal Mail owner sell off valuable properties?
Political football
Sport has shown me success is not about quick wins but collective effort
Usyk retains his class in and out of ring in beating Fury
Boxing is full of unsavoury people but it also produces extraordinary men such as the heavyweight champion
Time for the cackling disrupter to make his exit but there is no shame in losing to a true great
In the end everyone runs out of road. It was probably necessary for Tyson Fury to say he was robbed in the Kingdom Arena on Saturday night.
Theory of nothing earns Saints and Rusk worthy draw
It turns out it wasn't so hard after all. Southampton stopped giving the ball away in their own half, adopted an approach rooted in expediency and kept their second clean sheet of the campaign.
Semenyo shatters United to leave Amorim facing squall
After mid-morning wind and rain that might have caused Noah a problem, the skies cleared and Bournemouth took apart a Manchester United team as amateurish as any of the iterations of the past decade or so.
Burke helps Saracens show title ambitions
It was a cold, bleak midwinter afternoon in north London but the race to be crowned as England's top club side in 2025 is hotting up.
Pereira's Wolves reign gets off to flying start
It took less than 45 minutes of Vítor Pereira's Wolves tenure for the fans to sing his name as he witnessed his new side thrash Leicester.
Díaz and Salah double up in leaders' statement win
Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, having played one game fewer than second-placed Chelsea, with the latest illustration of their remorseless cut and thrust under Arne Slot.