BRITAIN is wasting billions as failed asylum seekers get stuck in the system for years on end, the spending watchdog has said.
It identified the Government’s “inability to promptly remove people” once claims are rejected as one of the biggest reasons the system is clogged.
The National Audit Office warned that asylum support costs have hit £4.9billion this year, with accommodation swallowing the lion’s share.
In a review of people who claimed asylum in January 2023, 35 per cent were granted protection nearly three years later.
Of those refused, just nine per cent had been removed from the UK.
And a massive 56 per cent of the group were still unresolved.
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The wider report says weak data, outdated IT and disjointed accountability make it impossible for cases to be tracked properly.
It recommends a whole-system approach, as well as realistic proposals for removing people who cannot be returned.
It comes days after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced her asylum reforms.
The watchdog says she must address their “bottlenecks”, while the Home Office vowed it was already working on solutions.
