The government is failing to monitor private firms holding asylum accommodation contracts worth billions of pounds, openDemocracy and Liberty Investigates can reveal.
A joint investigation has found that the Home Office holds no centralised data on the performances of its three main accommodation providers – Serco, Mears and Clearsprings Ready Homes – which together house almost all of the 100,000 asylum seekers in government accommodation.
In 2019, these firms were awarded public contracts initially estimated to be worth £4bn over 10 years, though costs have since spiralled. Earlier this year the National Audit Office said it expects the Home Office to have spent “£3.1bn on hotels” in the financial year ending in March 2024 alone.
