MINISTERS are unable to say how much it costs the UK taxpayer every day to put up asylum seekers in houses and flats.
Home Office minister Lord David Hanson said the info was not available and could be gathered only at a “disproportionate cost”.
He was responding to a parliamentary question on the daily bill to house thousands of asylum seekers who are not in hotels.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Either Labour don’t know, or they don’t want to admit it, and both are a disgrace.
“If you can’t count the cost, you can’t control it.”
At the end of March, 66,683 asylum seekers were living in so-called dispersal accommodation, usually houses or flats in residential areas, according to Home Office figures.
They cost about £15 a night each, compared with £120 for a hotel, but the daily total bill could still be £1million a day.
Some 32,345 asylum seekers were in hotels, costing about £5.77million a day.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029, while landlords were encouraged to rent to asylum seekers.
Labour said: “The Tories broke the asylum system.
“They’ve got some nerve acting as though they had nothing to do with it.”
ReutersMinisters are unable to say how much it costs the UK taxpayer every day to put up asylum seekers in houses and flats[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
