Criticism of Huddersfield asylum seeker plans after watchdog's report

Home Office plans include housing asylum seekers at former student accommodation in Huddersfield

Analysis that government changes to trim asylum lodging costs will end up being more expensive is a "damning indictment", a council leader said.

Kirklees leader Cathy Scott spoke after the National Audit Office (NAO) said a plan to move asylum seekers from hotels to other sites would be more expensive.

One of those sites is former student flats in Huddersfield.

The Home Office said the plan was "better value" than relying on hotels - once upfront costs were discounted.

The NAO audit said the expected bill for the four sites will be £1.2bn in the next decade - £46m more than the estimated cost of hotels.

The Huddersfield site is a former student accommodation block on Manchester Road, just outside the town's ring road.

It is expected up to about 700 people will eventually be housed there.

The other three sites are the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset plus former military sites in Lincolnshire and Essex.

'Urgent lessons'

Ms Scott said the report by the NAO, the public spending watchdog, was a "damning indictment of the government's handling of asylum across our country".

She added: "Our local experience for Huddersfield paints a depressingly similar picture."

The Labour politician said since the Home Office plans came to light, "the council and our partner organisations have raised dozens of concerns" which remained "unresolved".

She added: "The Home Office needs to learn urgent lessons from the NAO and commit to engaging properly with the Huddersfield community as well as addressing the many important issues the council and its partners have put forward before the site become operational."

Kirklees Council leader Cathy Scott said the Home Office needed to learn urgent lessons from the report

A Home Office spokesperson said using hotels to house asylum seekers was "unacceptable" and people needed to be deterred from travelling to the UK, with the government's Rwanda plan to bring the bill down in the long-term.

They said: "While the NAO's figures include set-up costs, it is currently better value for money for the taxpayer to continue with these sites than to use hotels."

It said costs would fall as it was "closing dozens of asylum hotels every month".