Families whose asylum claims have been rejected could be offered payments of up to £40,000 to leave the UK under a pilot scheme announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Under the proposal, failed asylum seekers would be offered up to £10,000 per person, capped at four members per family, if they agree to depart within seven days. Mahmood said that families who refuse the incentive would face enforced removal.
The scheme is expected to focus initially on around 150 families currently housed in taxpayer-funded accommodation. The Home Office estimates that, if successful, it could save approximately £20 million.
Ministers argue that the cost of accommodating a family of three in asylum housing can reach £158,000 per year. The enhanced payment, they say, would therefore represent a significant saving compared with ongoing support costs. The policy draws comparisons with measures previously adopted in Denmark.
The government already operates a voluntary returns programme, offering up to £3,000 to individuals who choose to leave the UK. The new trial would substantially increase that amount for targeted families.
Mahmood said the government was consulting on how to remove families with children who decline voluntary departure “in a way that is humane and effective”. She contended that a failure to remove families in the past had created a “perverse incentive” for people to cross the Channel with children.
The proposal has drawn criticism from opposition parties and advocacy groups. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the payments as “an insult to the British taxpayer”. Reform UK, which has previously supported financial incentives for voluntary departures, also criticised the scale of the payments. Its home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said sums of up to £40,000 were “staggering”.
Meanwhile, the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, representing around 100 organisations, warned that families would have only a week to make a potentially life-altering decision and may struggle to obtain legal advice within that timeframe. The group also raised concerns that withdrawing support could leave children homeless.
A government source rejected claims that the payments would act as a pull factor, arguing that people smugglers typically charge between £15,000 and £35,000 per migrant to reach the UK, meaning the journey would still exceed the value of any potential incentive.
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