Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of operating the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme.

In August a £100m funding boost was announced for this financial year to bring forward a number of projects to secure our borders. This includes our landmark pilot with France which the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme is part of. More on this £100 million comprehensive funding package can be found at the following link: Investment for Border Security Command to tackle people smuggling gangs - GOV.UK

There are commercially sensitive arrangements as part of the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme which we do not comment on. To do otherwise could harm our ability to get the best value for money for the British taxpayer.