The Home Office has requested approval for £2.6billion after spending more than expected on asylum accommodation.
The Government spent around £8million per day last year to put migrants up in hotels, with official figures last summer showing more than 50,000 were housed in hotel rooms.
A request was put forward by James Cleverly for a "contingencies fund advance" via a written statement, which will enable the department "to deliver services with unpredictable final costs, such as the asylum system".
It comes as figures this week revealed the number of migrants crossing the English Channel was up 13 per cent compared with this time last year.
The Home Office has requested approval for £2.6 billion after spending more than expected on asylum accommodation
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In his written statement to Parliament, Cleverly said: "The Home Office net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the Main Estimate 2023-24…
"Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2,600,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Home Office.
"Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,600,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund."
The Labour Party has slammed the Government over its "staggering incompetence and chaos".
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Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The taxpayer is paying the price.
"The overspend this year is significantly worse than last year despite all Rishi Sunak’s promises.
“Their failure to clear the asylum backlog, end the use of hotels for asylum seekers stuck in their broken asylum system or sort out proper contracts has left them with an eye watering £2.6billion blackhole that the British taxpayer will need to fill.
"Time and again they go for gimmicks rather than ever getting a grip.
The Comfort Inn hotel on Belgrave Road in Pimlico, central London, where the Home Office reportedly asked a group of refugees to be accommodated four to a room back in JunePA"Labour set out a plan last year to clear the backlog, recruiting over 1,000 new caseworkers and ending the use of extortionate asylum hotels.
"That would save over £2billion and sort out the Tory chaos."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Financial advances through contingencies funds are planned for each year to enable departments to deliver services with unpredictable final costs, such as the asylum system.
"This is a routine request and will enable the Home Office to continue to keep the public and the UK’s borders safe."
