Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the total cost of processing asylum applications in the (a) 2022 calendar and (b) 2022-23 financial year; and how much and what proportion of this cost will come from the Official Development Assistance budget.

The last estimate of costs that we have published was for 2020/21, where the total cost of the Asylum system amounted to £1,359,145,699, with an average unit cost of £11,819. These costs show why our asylum system is in need of the reform our New Plan for Immigration will deliver.

The Home Office routinely publish information on the total cost and breakdown of Asylum costs and productivity and can be found at Asy_04: Immigration and protection data: Q1 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)

We do not hold nor calculate the costs for this on a calendar year basis, nor do we have an estimate of costs for 2022/23, as the calculation of costs are collated from across the Home Office, once a year only, after the annual accounts have been published. This is still ongoing for 2021/22, and they will be available in the autumn.

ODA-eligible expenditure for asylum support is up to twelve months and covers all direct expenses for temporary sustenance (food, shelter, and training). ODA expenditure is published on a calendar year basis, the latest publication covers 2021, provisional 2022 calendar expenditure will be published in the spring 2023.

As defined by the OECD DAC Directives, none of the costs of processing asylum claims or other costs for personnel who are not involved in the direct execution of temporary sustenance in the UK are ODA eligible.