Local authorities are providing interpreters and services to help asylum seekers get healthcare, housing, education and legal services
Migrants Continue To Cross The English Channel From France (Image: Getty)
Councils across the country are spending £744 million providing social care for asylum seekers, according to a study by the Taxpayers’ Alliance, in what campaigners called “another ticking time bomb in town hall budgets”. The soaring costs include funding for interpreters and services to help asylum seekers get healthcare, housing, education and legal services. Figures were revealed today in a new report. Researcher Anne Strickland said: “Taxpayers have watched on with dismay at the failure of successive governments to get a grip on this issue, knowing that they will inevitably end up picking up the tab.
“With councils essentially helpless in the face of this ongoing crisis, it’s imperative that Whitehall urgently finds a way to stop the migration crisis.” The sum is in addition to Government spending on accommodation, including almost 200 hotels used to house asylum seekers, as well as costs to the legal system of dealing with asylum cases.
Local authority spending on social care for adult asylum seekers is up 165% since 2019-20, from £50.6 million to £133.9 million, researchers found.
Authorities spent £287.2 million on children who remain with their families and £322.6 million on unaccompanied children.
Councils’ total spending on social care for asylum seekers was almost £744 million in 2024-25. Kent is the highest-spending council, with £41.6 million in costs, up from £9.9 million in 2019-20. Hampshire spent £23.9 million and Manchester £23.2 million.
It follows warnings that councils face a funding shortfall across their total budgets of more than £4bn this year, threatening service cuts. Research from the union UNISON showed council finances remain in a dire state, and the gap between what councils need to run services and what they receive is expected to amount to £4.1bn in 2026/27.
An analysis by the Local Government Association found that growing demand for social care is a major cause of budget shortfalls.
The Government has urged retired judges to return to work and oversee asylum tribunals, in a bid to cut the backlog of 80,000 cases.
In addition, 86 new judges have been recruited, with another 100 to come.
The Home Office directly spent around £4 billion on asylum support in the 2024-25 financial year, including £2.7 billion on accommodation, while more than 109,000 asylum claims were lodged – the highest number on record.
Labour has set out plans to speed up the asylum appeals system and removals of people whose applications are refused, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pledging “to restore order and control.”
