Government efforts to cut foreign aid spent on asylum seekers stall

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The government has been accused of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’, with aid organisations claiming ministers are in danger of a ‘reckless repeat’ of the previous Conservative government

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The government is struggling to cut the amount of money from the foreign aid budget it spends on asylum seekers in the UK, new figures show.

Home Office figures show the department expects to spend £2.2bn of overseas development assistance (ODA) this financial year, of which £2.1bn is expected to be spent on asylum support. The predictions for this year are only slightly less than the £2.4bn spent in 2024/25.