Shock as Home Office waste revealed – including £3m on scrapped deportations | Politics | News
The Channel migrant crisis has led to chaos in the UK asylum system (Image: Getty)
Migrants have raked in almost £20 million after a shocking blunder meant they were refunded thousands by mistake.
The scale of taxpayers’ waste was exposed by the Home Office annual report, with numerous spending splurges ending in disaster.
Officials refunded migrants after they paid the Immigration Health Surcharge for periods they were not entitled to.
In total, officials blew almost £100 million, including £3.2m in “fruitless payments” on cancelled deportation flights, in 2025/26.
In one “catastrophic waste”, the Home Office spent £22.9 million on an empty hotel in Hounslow, West London, which was not needed.
The gaffes sparked fury as many families are struggling with a cost of living crisis.
One shocking admission revealed: “Administrative error within the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) Reimbursement Scheme has resulted in some reimbursements being paid to customers for periods not aligned with the underlying IHS payment.
“Recovery options are being explored; however recoverability remains uncertain.”
This means migrants who paid the Immigration Health Surcharge – which grants people temporary access to the NHS for £1,035 per year – were being reimbursed for periods they were not entitled to claim for.
And officials are struggling to rake the money back, leaving a huge black hole in the nation’s finances.
In another case, the Home Office spent £22.9 million on the Atrium Hotel in Hounslow.
This was a 9-month contract which was signed to “to meet an expected surge in asylum demand”.
Another £35.2m was lost on a bungled contract for the new Police National Database.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a catastrophic waste of taxpayers’ money by this inept Labour government.
“Since the election 76,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel, more than under any other prime minister.
“The solution to this is not to put them up in hotel accommodation or anywhere else, which costs hard pressed British taxpayers billions.
Shabana Mahmood has been trying to wrestle control of the Home Office (Image: Getty)
“The solution is to leave the ECHR which will enable us to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then pretty quickly the crossings will stop.
“At a time when families struggle to make ends meet and everyone faces ever higher taxes, it is galling that the Labour government is wasting so much of our money on failed projects designed for illegal immigrants.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have taken immediate action to stop any further incorrect payments.
“Enhanced checks and controls are now in place to prevent this happening again and we are working across government to safeguard public money.
“This has had no impact on frontline NHS services or patient care.”
