Have your say on the bombshell new plan.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (pictured) is willing to deduct the cash from benefit payments. (Image: Getty)
New bombshell plans will see asylum seekers forced to pay up to £10,000 towards the costs of their hotels and taxpayer-funded homes. The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced that those seeking asylum will face bills for their accommodation if their application is successful.
Those given the right to work following a successful asylum claim will be told to start paying back their costs, in a system compared to the student loan process. If refugees have not paid back the “full amount”, they will be barred from gaining settlement rights sources said. Officials added: “Anyone who leaves the UK will be required to make their payments if they wish to return at a future date.” Migrants are expected to pay around £10,000 under the current plans. Ms Mahmood said: “The cost of asylum accommodation on the British taxpayer is too high.
“We have already reduced asylum costs by £1bn, but it is also right that we ask those who can contribute to do so. Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility.
“Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so.”
The Government said it spent £4 billion on accommodation and support for asylum seekers last year, and the Home Office estimates the average cost per person per night of accommodating asylum seekers is £23.25 in dispersal accommodation and £144 in hotels – while subsistence payments range from £9.95 to £49.18 per person per week.
The Home Secretary will have the power to adjust the charge and the thresholds, as officials work to reduce the £4 billion bill on the asylum system.
The powers needed to recover the costs will be set out by the Immigration and Asylum Bill when it is introduced to Parliament today (Tuesday, June 30).
Meanwhile, the Labour Government is also ramping up efforts to close asylum hotels by moving migrants into houses, flats and bedsits in communities across the country, as well as former military sites.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, questioned how effective the policy will be.
“The data suggests that unless thresholds were significantly below the minimum wage, a relatively small share of people granted asylum would earn enough to make contributions to the scheme,” she said.
“The impact of the scheme on public finances is likely to be relatively small, because it is a means-tested payment for a very low-income population.
“It is possible that the scheme could have some other impacts, such as discouraging asylum seekers from taking up accommodation if they can find other support (such as family members or a charity), or discouraging them from working once they get refugee status because they face a higher effective tax rate.
“In practice, it is hard to predict how large either effect might be. How the proposed flat rate £10,000 repayment compares to the actual cost of asylum support will depend a lot on how long people wait for a final asylum decision and what share are in hotels.”
She added: “For example, the cost of supporting person who waits for a year in a hotel would be over £50,000, while the cost for someone in much cheaper HMO (house in multiple occupation) accommodation who only waits six months would be under £6,000.”