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The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted significant inefficiencies within the UK’s asylum system, pointing to “wasted public funds” and a pattern of “short-term, reactive” government policies that have merely shifted problems rather than resolving them. The watchdog conducted an examination of 5,000 asylum applications submitted in January 2023. Out of this group, 35% (1,619 individuals) had been granted some form of protection, such as refugee status, while 9% (452 people) had been removed from the country. However, a majority of 56% (2,812 applicants) were still awaiting a final decision nearly three years later.
A substantial portion of these unresolved cases—2,021 out of the 2,812—were caught in a state of “limbo” without any appeals filed. Ruth Kelly, the NAO’s chief analyst, explained the situation by noting that many applicants had their claims denied but remained within the system because the authorities faced challenges in removing them. Accommodation shortages further compounded the problem, leading to many asylum seekers living in hotels, costing the government £2.7 billion for the 2024-25 period.
The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, described the report’s findings as “shocking,” emphasizing how the ongoing delays reflect daily realities faced by those working on the front lines. He stated, “The NAO’s finding that more than half of people who applied for asylum almost three years ago still don’t have an outcome is shocking,” and added that the system “is simply not functioning, where people wait months or even years for a decision… and costs keep rising.” The NAO report also criticized successive governments for their responses to the surge in small boat crossings since 2018, highlighting that interventions have generally been reactive and have focused narrowly on individual stages of the process, which often leads to backlogs elsewhere. For instance, the effort by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2023 to clear a backlog created new delays at the appeals stage, shifting rather than solving the problem.
A key bottleneck identified by the NAO is the shortage of specialist immigration judges available to handle appeals. Ruth Kelly pointed out that recruitment is hampered by the complex, demanding nature of the work and negative media portrayals. She said, “There’s a severe capacity shortage with judges… poor incentives for working in the immigration and asylum tribunals… because of the taxing and the complex nature of the work, and also because of negative media attention, which makes it harder to recruit judges.” The NAO called for a sustainable, comprehensive approach instead of temporary fixes. It also noted the lack of a unified case identifier system across the Home Office, courts, and local authorities, which prevents effective tracking of individual cases. The report urged the government to create a flexible, resilient asylum system able to manage fluctuating demand and avoid the “counter-productive quick fixes” of the past.
Responding to the report, a Home Office spokesperson pointed to recent announcements by the home secretary regarding “the most sweeping changes to the asylum system in a generation.” The spokesperson said progress was already underway, citing the removal of nearly 50,000 people without the right to remain, a 63% increase in arrests related to illegal working, and the prevention of over 21,000 small boat crossings this year. The reforms, the spokesperson stated, aim to restore order and control, deter illegal immigration, and increase removals of those without lawful status
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