True figure for housing asylum seekers in UK hotels four times higher than quoted

Government amended the number to almost four times the figure it previously told MPs

Migrants are taken to Dover, Kent, by Border Forcer officers, from a small boat found in the English Channel on January 10. PA

The government is spending £4.7 million ($6.4m) a day housing asylum seekers in hotels, almost four times the figure it previously told MPs, the Home Office has said.

On Wednesday, the home affairs committee heard the total was £1.2 million, but a government clarification on Thursday made it clear that this figure related to Afghan refugees.

It is understood the incorrect total, provided to the committee by a Home Office official, came from a drafting error.

There are 12,000 Afghan migrants and 25,000 from other parts of the world, the Home Office also clarified.

Based on the figures provided, this works out at an estimated £127 for each person in a hotel every day, on average.

At this level, it could cost £1.7 billion a year, although totals are likely to fluctuate throughout that time.

“The use of hotels is unacceptable," a Home Office spokesman said.

"It is a short-term solution to the global migration crisis and we are working hard to find appropriate dispersed accommodation for migrants, asylum seekers and Afghan refugees as soon as possible.

“We would urge local authorities to do all they can to help house people permanently.

“Our New Plan for Immigration, which is going through Parliament now, will fix the broken asylum system, enabling us to remove those with no right to be here more quickly.”

A child clutching a teddy steps ashore in Dover, Kent, southern England, accompanied by Border Force officers after being rescued from a small boat trying to cross the English Channel. PA

Migrants arrive at Dover on a Royal National Lifeboat Institution vessel, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. Despite it being midwinter, migrant crossings resumed this week after a period of bad weather led to a pause. Reuters

Migrants clamber aboard a flimsy inflatable dinghy as they prepare to leave Wimereux, near Calais, north France, heading for England. Reuters

A group of people, thought to be migrants, at Dungeness lifeboat station, Kent. AP Photo

More than 26,000 people have made the dangerous journey from France to England in 2021, three times more than in 2020. In November, 27 people were drowned when a migrant boat sunk during the crossing. AP Photo

Migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, by the RNLI. AP Photo

Inflatable boats, believed to have been used by migrants who crossed the English Channel from France, stored near Dover. Reuters

Migrants disembark from an RNLI lifeboat on arrival in Dover, after being picked up at sea. AFP

A group of migrants prepare to launch an overcrowded inflatable dinghy from the French coast, near Calais, heading for England. Reuters

At Wednesday’s committee session, MPs were told that the government is “optimistic” that it will find a new way of working with councils “on how we manage these costs”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the policy was “thoroughly inadequate”.

“We do not want people in hotels,” Ms Patel said.

She said the government and local authorities were “absolutely struggling” to move Afghan migrants into more suitable, permanent accommodation as the country did not have enough places.

“The use of hotels is not only thoroughly inadequate, as the Home Secretary told MPs yesterday, it is also causing real harm to men, women and children who have come to our shores in search of safety," said Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council.

“They have had to struggle to get the basic essentials they need, such as clothing and medicines, having been left for months on end without sufficient support, causing them huge anxiety and distress.

“It’s an incredibly costly and failed strategy that could be easily fixed by using public money more effectively to house people in our communities and allow them the right to work.”