Rishi Sunak’s pledge to clear a backlog of asylum decisions by the end of this year is on course to fail after the annual cost of Britain’s asylum system hit £3.6bn, a watchdog has revealed.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said Home Office officials had internally warned that the pledge is “in doubt, with urgent action required” as costs soared amid an accommodation crisis, “unrealistic” targets, staffing issues and “highly uncertain assumptions” made by the government.
