Asylum invoice doubles to just about £4bn as Sunak says price is ‘unacceptable’
The taxpayer invoice on asylum virtually doubled in a 12 months to just about £4bn as Rishi Sunak mentioned the associated fee was “unacceptable” and warned the system is beneath “unsustainable pressure”.
Home Office spending on asylum rose by £1.85bn, from £2.12bn in 2021/22 to £3.97bn this 12 months.
A decade in the past, in 2012/13, the whole price to the taxpayer was £500.2m.
Channel crossings topped 19,000 for the 12 months to date, Home Office figures confirmed, regardless of Mr Sunak’s promise to voters that he would “stop the boats” bringing migrants throughout the English Channel.
About 80% of asylum seekers are ready longer than six months for an preliminary determination, authorities statistics present.
Mr Sunak has additionally pledged by the top of 2023 to clear the backlog of round 92,601 so-called “legacy” instances which had been within the system as of the top of June final 12 months.
But within the six months since Mr Sunak made his promise, the determine decreased by simply lower than 1 / 4.
He informed the Daily Express: “The best way to relieve the unsustainable pressures on our asylum system and unacceptable costs to the taxpayer is to stop the boats in the first place.
“That’s why we’re centered on our plan to interrupt the enterprise mannequin of the individuals smugglers facilitating these journeys, together with working with worldwide companions upstream to disrupt their efforts, stepping up joint work with the French to assist scale back crossings and tackling the asylum backlog.”
‘Government broke asylum system’
Overall, a complete of 175,457 individuals have been ready for an preliminary determination on an asylum software within the UK on the finish of June 2023, up 44% from 122,213 for a similar interval a 12 months earlier – the best determine since present data started in 2010.
Of these, 139,961 had been ready longer than six months for an preliminary determination, up 57% 12 months on 12 months from 89,231 and one other report excessive.
Labour mentioned the record-high asylum backlog quantities to a “disastrous record” for Mr Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whereas campaigners referred to as for claims to be processed extra effectively.
A gaggle of individuals considered migrants are introduced into Dover from a Border Force vessel
But the prime minister defended the federal government’s progress, saying: “We’ve already reduced the legacy backlog by over 28,000 – nearly a third – since the start of December and we remain on track to meet our target.
“But we all know there may be extra to do to ensure asylum seekers don’t spend months or years – dwelling within the UK at huge expense to the taxpayer – ready for a call.”
Amnesty International UK said it was “totally disgraceful that new asylum legal guidelines are being launched to truly stop the processing of claims altogether, which can make this backlog, its price and the limbo it imposes on individuals even worse”.