Family returns are, by their nature, different to returning a single adult. They require a different approach, with specific statutory safeguarding responsibilities, family dynamics, limitations on the physical handling of children and detention adding complexities.

The focus for the pilot was to offer eligible families up to £10,000 per person to leave the UK, capped at £40,000 per family, and backed by enforced removal where families refuse to comply.

Keeping families in hotels can cost up to £158,000 a year for a family of three and a recent estimate placed the cost of an enforced removal for a single person at an average of £48,800. Supporting a quicker, voluntary departure enables families to have more control over how they leave the UK and is far cheaper for the public purse.

The offer matches the strategic and time-limited approach seen in Denmark, where voluntary return is prioritised and families are offered payments up to the equivalent of £30,000 to expedite departures. This has contributed to them halving the number of people awaiting deportation, including rejected asylum seekers and foreign criminals more broadly.

Alongside this pilot, we ran a targeted consultation with a range of expert and interested stakeholders on reforms to the family returns process. The consultation closed on Friday 5 June 2026, and work is now underway to analyse the responses. Any reform will restore fairness and credibility to the asylum system by enforcing a clear endpoint once claims are exhausted.

The Home Office intends to publish a response setting out the consultation’s findings in due course.

Every family leaving the UK delivers a direct saving to the taxpayer and another step towards ending hotel use for good, and the Government is acting urgently to deliver exactly that.

Home Office