Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what expenditure has been incurred by her Department on assessments of asylum accommodation sites in Great Yarmouth that did not proceed.

Home office undertakes routine assurance checks before committing to any accommodation particularly any large sites learning lessons from the past. Cost of these checks will be relatively modest but essential particularly in ruling out unsuitable options.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are the mechanism via which the Home Office works towards achieving Full Dispersal and thus, a fair and balanced distribution of asylum accommodation across all local authorities nationally.

The Asylum Accommodation Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which accounts for a multitude of pressures within local authorities, including – availability of housing, levels of homelessness, availability of GP and dentists as well as levels of community cohesion. Development of the plans was informed by engagement with a range of national, regional and local stakeholders, to ensure that the evidence base was reflective of broader local authority feedback.

For the safety and security of those we accommodate and staff, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.

The Home Office publishes all available information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.