The Home Office is ‘failing to work effectively with local authorities’ in clearing its asylum backlog, the National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded.
Auditors found ‘strained relationships’ had ‘undermined work on procuring accommodation’.
Of a £283m fund to incentivise councils to provide accommodation and services, just £11.4m was paid out in 2022-23.
In March last year the Home Office agreed a target of securing 500 beds a week on average by October 2022 but by April 2023 it was finding fewer than 50 per week.
Having already reduced its target to 350, the department is now looking to lower it further.
The NAO also discovered the dispersal grant of £3,500 paid to councils was ‘based on limited information’ and data that was ‘inconsistent and incomplete’.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£)
