New reports details how Rwanda scheme will cost well over £500 million for 300 asylum seekers
The independent National Audit Office (NAO) on Friday published a report outlining the costs incurred by the Government in relation to the policy of relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe main 28-page report can be downloaded here and a brief 7-page summary report is here. It sets out the Home Office's fixed and variable costs relating to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda.
The NAO was asked to examine costs after Parliament's Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees expressed concern at the lack of available information regarding spending on the Rwanda partnership. The NAO notes that the report is based on information provided by the Home Office in February 2024, and the NAO has not assessed the accuracy and completeness of the Home Office's cost estimates or assumptions.
No asylum seekers have yet been sent to Rwanda. The Supreme Court ruled in November that relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda would not be lawful due to the risk of refoulement, but the Government has since signed a new treaty and introduced new legislation which it believes will make relocations to Rwanda lawful.
As widely reported by news media, the NAO's analysis shows that the Rwanda scheme could cost well in excess of £500 million. The Independent reported that the total cost would be £576.8 million if 300 asylum seekers were sent to Rwanda, though the Guardian calculated a slight lower figure of £541 million for 300 asylum seekers.
As the NAO explains, there are two main type of payments being made to Rwanda under the migration partnership: 1) payments to the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) designed to support economic growth in Rwanda; and 2) payments to cover asylum processing and operational costs for individuals relocated to Rwanda.
Payments by the UK to the Government of Rwanda under the ETIF will cost a total of £370 million, which is made up of:
- £220 million already paid as at February 2024
- £150 million agreed to paid as three payments of £50 million each in April 2024, 2025 and 2026
Further payments will be made to the Government of Rwanda under the ETIF based on the number of asylum seekers that may be relocated as follows:
- £20,000 for each individual relocated
- £120 million as an additional payment once 300 people have been relocated
Separate to the payments into the ETIF, the Home Office has agreed to make payments to Rwanda to cover the asylum processing and operational costs for each individual relocated. The NAO notes that the Home Office has already made a one-off advance payment to Rwanda of £20 million, against which these costs will be netted off.
The payments to Rwanda to cover processing and operational costs will amount to:
- £150,874 for each individual relocated (with the five annual payments being £45,262 in year 1, £37,718 in year 2, £30,175 in year 3, £22,632 in year 4, and £15,087 in year 5)
In the event that a relocated individual decides to leave Rwanda voluntarily, payments would be stopped for that individual but the UK would pay the Government of Rwanda a one-off payment of £10,000 per individual to help facilitate their voluntary departure.
There are also direct costs incurred by the Home Office in developing the migration partnership with Rwanda. These are separate and additional to the payments made to the Government of Rwanda. The NAO report breaks down direct costs incurred and already paid by the Home Office as follows:
- approximately £2 million in direct Home Office staff costs
- £2.3 million in legal fees (not including claimants' costs)
- £15.3 million in set-up costs for escorting people to Rwanda and providing training facilities
Future direct costs will amount to:
- £1 million per year in staff costs from 2024-25
- £11,000 per relocated individual for the cost of the flight to Rwanda
- £12.6 million for training escorts in 2024-25 and £1 million per year in future fixed costs relating to escorting
The NAO's report does not offer any conclusion on value for money of the Rwanda scheme, as it says this would depend on whether the partnership deters individuals from making journeys to the UK to claim asylum. The report also does not examine the progress made by the Home Office to deliver the aims and objectives of the partnership.
Labour's shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said it was a "shocking revelation" that the Rwanda scheme would cost around £2 million per asylum seeker. Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, called the figures " staggering" and said they raise serious questions about how schemes such as Rwanda can be cost effective.
The Government defended the scheme by saying the annual cost to house asylum seekers in the UK is set to reach £11 billion by 2026 and it was right to fund solutions to break the unsustainable cycle of 'illegal migration'.