The UK government is planning to spend up to £1.4bn on transporting and removing people "who have no legal basis to remain" in the country.
For a ten-year period from 2028, the government is looking to contract an escorting service that will oversee the detention and removal of migrants from the UK.
Procurement documents seen by The Standard identify the services as “fundamental” to supporting immigration detention and the removal of people by air and sea.
In some cases, it appears that the funds will also be spent on physically escorting people to their destination.
“The Home Office is responsible for detaining and enforcing the removal of people from the UK who have no legal basis to remain here,” the documents read.
It also lists requirements such as “operation, management and maintenance” and short-term holding facilities at ports, airports, and Immigration Enforcement reporting centres (STHFs).
According to the documents, taxpayer funds will be directly go toward “welfare, care of children, risk assessments, use of force, medical support, staffing & personnel and training.”
This also includes “24/7 escorting from place of detention within the UK to designated overseas destination, primarily via air travel with a mix between scheduled and charter flights.”
It’s understood that no deal has yet been made regarding the procurement, with decisions expected to be finalized later this year.
The news comes just days after the Home Office revealed that 60,000 illegal immigrants and criminals had been removed from the UK within the last 19 months. It came alongside a video documenting a deportation, with people boarding a flight destined to leave the UK.
Migration continues to be one of the most talked-about topics in the UK, with right-wing parties like Reform often suggesting that failing immigration systems are the source of the country’s problems.
In 2025, Reform’s leader said the party planned to spend £10bn over five years as part of their migration and deportation agenda.
Some politicians have contested the targeting of migrants, including Jeremy Corbyn, who wrote last year: “The problems in our society are not caused by migrants or refugees. They are caused by an economic system rigged in favour of corporations and billionaires.”
However, Labour has seemingly upped the ante on immigration recently, including suspending family reunion visas.
The current system remains flawed, and there are very few safe and legal ways for people to claim asylum within the UK.
