This review for the Independent Commission for Aid Impact found that the ability of UK government departments to spend an unlimited proportion of the aid budget on the first-year costs of asylum seekers and refugees undermines incentives for longer term planning to reduce costs, risking poor value for money.
The review made six recommendations to help the UK government improve the quality of aid spending on in-donor refugee costs and minimise the resulting disruption to UK aid.
An update, published on 6 September 2023, found that the Illegal Migration Act 2023, if implemented in full, could mean that much of the Home Office’s spending on support for asylum seekers in the UK would no longer be eligible to be counted as Official Development Assistance (ODA). Read the update
Related press coverage:
Nearly one-third of 2022 UK aid spent on refugees at home, says watchdog, Devex
Home Office overspends on ‘poor value’ hotels for refugees, says report, The Telegraph
Overseas aid budget cut to meet soaring costs of housing refugees in UK, The Guardian
- Government spends a third of UK aid budget on asylum seekers in UK as hotel costs soar, The Independent
