Failing asylum system now costs four times more than when Tories came to power
Spending on asylum has quadrupled under the Tories, stark new figures show, as the Government comes under fire for the "broken" system.
The UK now spends £2.1 billion a year, up from £550 million when the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
Costs rocketed in 2022 with hotel use and slower decision making piling misery on taxpayers.
Labour's Shadow Home Secertary Yvette Cooper fumed: “After 13 years, the Tories have broken the asylum system and these figures prove it.
"Nothing the government is doing is working, and their legislation is making the situation worse with more people stuck in the system than ever before.”
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It is expected that the cost will go up further this year, with an additional £2.4 billion from the overseas aid budget used to support the asylum system last year - on top of normal costs.
The UK now spends £2.1 billion a year, up from £550 million when the Tories came to power in 2010 (AFP via Getty Images)It comes as the backlog hit a record 173,000, in spite of Rishi Sunak ’s promise to “bust” the system.
Last year just one per cent of asylum seekers who arrived by small boat had their applications decided.
The figures pile pressure on under-fire Home Secretary Suella Braverman, just days after the UN's refugee agency identified significant failings in the UK asylum system.
The UNHCR said officials were being forced to do "too much, too quickly, and with inadequate training".
An audit report said: "The current registration and screening systems expect staff to do too much, too quickly, and with inadequate training, facilities, guidance and oversight.
"As a result, much of their hard work is wasted, and the system frequently fails to achieve its goals."
Labour's Yvette Cooper has criticised the failing asylum system (PA)Vicky Tennant, UNHCR Representative to the United Kingdom, said: "Fair and efficient asylum systems help ensure that refugees are able to access the protection they need and to start rebuilding their lives.
"Equally important, they help maintain public confidence by allowing governments to pursue arrangements for the return of people who are found not to have international protection needs.
"Flawed and inefficient screening procedures are currently undermining the UK's asylum capacity - placing vulnerable people at risk and adding to the pressure on public resources."
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The UNHCR put forward 28 recommendations for reform of the system to make it fairer, more reliable and efficient.
A Home Office spokesman said: "This report is based on an audit that took place in 2021 and early 2022. Since then, significant improvements have been made to the processing of small boats arrivals."
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