Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the total cost of the pilot UK-France returns scheme, Operation Hillmore, has been, broken down by (1) detention costs, (2) removal costs, and (3) funding provided to the French government to support the operation of the scheme.

An internal assessment of the UK-France returns scheme is underway and will inform future plans to tackle illegal migration. The UK-France Treaty has ended and there are no current plans for the scheme to resume once operational activity has concluded.

Metrics from the UK-France returns scheme are published as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. The Home Office is committed to publishing further data when operational activity under the pilot has concluded in 2026.

We do not comment on costs as these are commercially sensitive arrangements.