Government action to bring in short-term fixes to the asylum system has led to backlogs elsewhere and delays which have wasted taxpayers’ money, the public spending watchdog has found.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found the current cost of supporting people seeking asylum is “disproportionately high” and totalled around £4.9 billion for 2024-25 driven by long delays and backlogs.

In the research, a sample of 5,000 people who began their asylum claims nearly three years ago showed more than half the cases remained unresolved.

The conditions can cause uncertainty and hardship for asylum seekers, and erode public confidence in the system, report authors warned, while the watchdog called for better data and a whole-system approach across government departments.

The recommend

See Full Page