Labour planning £10 BILLION splurge on asylum housing contracts stretching to 2039 despite promising to end use of migrant hotels

The Home Office has told GB News that it plans to "improve the management of contracts", attributing the high costs of asylum contracts to the previous Conservative Government.

They have invited potential suppliers to discuss terms for housing migrants from 2029 to 2036, with a possible extension to 2039, according to reports.

The initial seven-year period would see taxpayers chipping in with an average of £1.4billion per year, according to the Times.

This estimate means the cost to taxpayers will be almost the same amount as it currently is.

The reported plans also include an extensive list of services that need to be supplied to asylum seekers, including a company to provide transport 24/7, 365 days a year that is "timely and responsive to asylum seeker needs".

It requires an IT booking system and “ensuring the transport of asylum seekers, their dependents, and permitted belongings with appropriate assistance and within agreed timescales".

Home Office sources said the new contracts were likely to restrict contractors from using hotels to house asylum seekers apart from in exceptional circumstances.

The use of hotels to house asylum seekers has been heavily criticised across Britain, with protests and marches taking place up and down the country.

Residents who live near the facilities have voiced concerns over cost and public safety, with several high-profile murders and sex attacks on women.

A Sudanese asylum seeker named Deng Chol Majek murdered a hotel worker, Rhiannon Whyte.

He stabbed her 23 times with a screwdriver after she finished her shift at the Park Inn Hotel in Walsall, which was housing asylum seekers.

Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian migrant, was deported after launching a sex attack on a 14-year-old schoolgirl, where he touched and tried to kiss the child.

The attack sparked protests outside the Epping hotel, which spread to several major towns and cities in the UK.

Nearly 37,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, already surpassing the total for 2024.

The Government has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029, when the current contracts end.

It is believed future plans include using private housing and large sites, such as disused military bases.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We inherited disastrous asylum contracts that were not properly scrutinised. We are improving the management of these contracts to guarantee value for taxpayers’ money.

"Engagement notices are not contracts or formal procurement activity, the contents of which change over time. Claims of the final value of the contract is speculation."