Asylum system: Is govt ready to implement its plans for sweeping reform?
The Home Office spent around £4bn on asylum support in 2024-25, including around £2.7bn on accommodation. More than 109,000 asylum claims were lodged in the same year – the highest on record. In November 2025, the government announced an “entirely new asylum model”for the UK, with plans to reduce costs by £1bn/yr by 2028-29.
Meeting details
Informed by the National Audit Office’s (NAO) own analysis of the asylum system, the PAC will use its session to evaluate whether the government’s savings plans are realistic and sustainable. Previous Committee scrutiny has found that attempts to reduce the use of hotels and acquire large sites to house asylum seekers led to poor value for money.
Given that previous attempts to reduce application backlogs or hotel use have failed to adequately consider the knock-on effects in other parts of the system, the PAC is also likely to examine how the government will take a credible whole-system approach to its reforms. Other likely topics include how government is planning to tackle structural barriers which keep people in the system for extended periods.