Migrant hotels across Britain will continue receiving millions of pounds of taxpayer cash for years to come, the Treasury has revealed.
New papers published by No11's "Office for Value for Money" have warned that "global instability" means the hotels will continue - at a cost of £41,000 per migrant, or a staggering £5.5millon every day.
Shortly after last summer's General Election, Rachel Reeves claimed a £4.6billion overspend on the hotels formed a significant chunk of the so-called £22bn "black hole" inherited from the Conservatives - and now, ahead of the Spring Statement, the Treasury could move to slash public spending on them.
The papers also reveal that migrant hotel contractors "made record profits in recent years, leading to accusations of profiteering", with the £41,000-per-migrant figure a nearly two-and-a-half-fold increase from £17,000 in 2020, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank.
New papers published by No11's 'Office for Value for Money' have warned that 'global instability' means the hotels will remain open
PARight now, there are 8,000 more asylum seekers living in hotels than when Sir Keir Starmer pledged to end them in the run-up to the election, "saving the taxpayer billions of pounds".
It costs £145 every night to house just one asylum seeker in a hotel - while "dispersal accommodation" including houses and flats costs around £14.
More than 38,000 migrants are in hotels, while further 65,707 migrants are in dispersal accommodation.
Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft has said his department's "overarching aim" is to "exit" hotels by the end of the Parliament - while Labour expects that its commitment to build 1.5 million homes in England by the next election will wipe out the demand for migrant hotels.
MORE ON MIGRANT HOTELS:
- Labour to extend use of migrant hotels for 4 years despite pledge to end scheme 'as fast as possible'
- 'There's no clear strategy!' Starmer's plan to end asylum hotels ripped apart by border tsar as migrant crossings soar by 20%
- ‘Channel migrant smuggler’ put up in four star hotel costing £15k as tourists fume: ‘Should be kept in a secure place!’
It costs £145 every night to house just one asylum seeker in a hotel
PAWilliam Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, told GB News: "Taxpayers were promised an end to migrant hotels - instead, they're being forced to bankroll them for years to come.
"With costs spiralling and private contractors raking in record profits, this scheme has become a blank cheque at the public's expense.
"Ministers must stop the excuses, cut off the gravy train, and deliver on their pledge to end this farce once and for all."
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour's scheme will see British taxpayers paying twice - once to put up illegal immigrants in hotels here and again to remove those whose bogus asylum claims fail.
"Rwanda was a far better option - all illegal immigrants arriving across the Channel would have been removed, which would be a stronger deterrent and avoid spending billions on UK hotels."
MIGRANT CRISIS - LATEST UPDATES:
'We are absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels', a Government spokesman said
PAIn response, a Government spokesman said: "The cost to the taxpayer for short-term residential accommodation has skyrocketed, after the Government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.
"We are absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels, and since coming into government have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing to begin closing hotels, have surged the number of returns, removing more than 19,000 people with no right to be in the UK, and established the Border Security Command to dismantle the gangs driving this trade.
"The Office of Value for Money will work with departments, local government and the private sector to tackle these problems, ensuring a more strategic, co-ordinated approach that delivers better value for the taxpayer."
