Taxpayers forking out eye-watering £8million a day to house migrants in hotels
Suella Braverman warns of 'forces' trying to stop small boats pledge
Migrant hotels are now costing taxpayers £8 million-per-day, shocking figures have revealed.
The asylum accommodation bill has ballooned to more than £3 billion, a Home Office report shows.
Officials believe using former military sites – such as the former home of the Dambusters – and barges will slash costs for the taxpayer.
A government source said: “This is why we’ve got to get migrants out of hotels and stop the boats. We’re confident our Rwanda scheme, which is awaiting a judgment from the Supreme Court, will break the people smugglers’ business model.
“All Labour would do is add to the problem by welcoming our fair share of the million asylum seekers in the European Union every year and make illegal migration legal.”
The Home Office said in its annual accounts: “We must take action to address the unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels which is costing the taxpayer around £8 million a day.
“The Minister for Immigration has set out the measures we are taking to correct the injustice of the current situation.
“We have announced the first tranche of sites which we will set up to provide basic accommodation at scale.
“The Government will use military sites being disposed of in Essex and Lincolnshire. These will be scaled up over the coming months and will collectively provide accommodation to several thousand asylum seekers.”
Locals fear housing migrants at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire could scupper a £300m regeneration scheme and the Government will face West Lindsey District Council in a High Court showdown on October 31.
A similar scheme – at MDP Wethersfield in Essex – is also facing a legal challenge.
West Lindsey District Council has served the Home Office and its contractors with a temporary stop notice after a “breach of planning control” relating to listed buildings and archaeology on the site.
The Government’s first asylum barge – the Bibby Stockholm – has also been marred with problems since it was moored in Portland, Dorset.
Officials delayed moving the first migrants onto the vessel amid fire safety concerns and the cohort of 39 men were moved off within days after a Legionella outbreak.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Monday insisted asylum seekers will be moved back on to the Bibby Stockholm as soon as possible.
Some 464 migrants will eventually be housed on the vessel whilst their applications to stay are processed.
The Home Office believes the barge will be “significantly cheaper” than the average cost of £109 per head spent on hotel rooms.
Britain’s broken asylum system, in total, is costing taxpayers almost £4 billion.
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