UK refugees live in poor accommodation: Report

A British report says asylum seekers in the UK are living in “unacceptably poor” accommodation due to the Home Office’s failure to properly manage new contracts with the private sector.

The report by the Public Accounts Committee published on Thursday said the Home Office’s “rationalization” of contracts for asylum seeker accommodation has left vulnerable refugees in poor living conditions.

In 2012, the Home Office decided to award three companies – G4S, Serco, and Clearel – to provide housing for 23,000 asylum seekers in a bid to save £140 million over seven years.

The report criticized the Home Office’s decision to grant G4S and Serco the contracts as the two “had no previous experience of accommodating asylum seekers.”

The committee said the two companies had failed to inspect and check the properties prior to the takeover, which led to extra costs, delays and a failure to inspect properties properly.

“The companies failed to improve quality in a timely manner. None of this was helped by the Department’s failure to impose penalties on contractors in the transition period,” said the committee chairperson Margaret Hodge.

“It is disturbing that over a year into the contract the accommodation is still not of the required standard and the department has only chalked up £8 million in savings,” Hodge added.

In response to the report, the Home Office said it was “disappointed” with the committee’s findings and would “respond in due course.”

Meanwhile, Pete Wishart, a home affairs spokesman for the Scottish National Party, called the report “worrying” and highlighted that it was the latest in a series of concerns about asylum seekers’ housing.

“In a bid to cut corners, the Home Office is failing to adequately protect vulnerable asylum seekers. Sadly, this is not the first time concerns have been raised about the way in which the UK government deals with asylum seekers,” said Wishart.