We're bringing forward the idea of
closing these so-called asylum hotels.
When do you hope? What will that date
be? Good morning to you.
>> Good morning. Well, we have set out in
our manifesto that we will end the
asylum hotels by the end of the
parliament. We obviously want to do that
more swiftly. We do believe it can be
done more swiftly, but there's a series
of things that need to happen first in
order for us to be able to do that. And
that means crucially we need to clear
the appeals backlog. So, we're going to
be announcing major reforms to the
appeals process because that is
currently what is holding up clearing a
lot of people from asylum hotels, people
who've had their cases failed but are
then stuck in the appeal system. We've
also got to prevent as many people going
into the asylum system in the first
place. That's why we're making
announcements today around students
because we've seen 15,000 people claim
asylum uh at the end of their student
visas even though for many of them
nothing has changed in their home
countries. And also we need to keep
increasing returns. Already those
returns are up 28% in the last year of
failed asylum seekers. That's a big
increase but we need to go further.
>> Yes. There's also of course been quite
an increase in the number of asylum
claims that have been granted. 70,000 in
the year to June. That's more than
triple the previous year. Why might that
be?
>> Well, we've had to clear a huge backlog.
So, what happened was the previous
government just stopped.
>> But there's still a backlog of 120,000
cases, secretary.
>> So, and that's partly because of the
what's going on in the appeal system.
So, the the actual number of cases we've
actually had a 24% drop in the number of
people waiting for their first
decisions. We've been whipping through
with those initial decisions.
>> Whipping through?
>> Yeah. Because what we inherited
>> 20,000 buck Rob is whipping through.
Good gracious. No, it's lower than that
now. One of the things that we inherited
from the previous government was they'd
basically just frozen all asylum
decisions. They'd stopped taking
decisions. They weren't returning
anybody. And the result was that backlog
was rapidly going up. If we'd carried on
with that approach, we'd have probably
had tens of thousands more people in
asylum hotels this year. We've managed
to turn that around and we've turned
around those initial decisions. But
we've got to get the appeal system
working. It's just broken and it needs
big reform. when these hotels are closed
then where will the people go?
>> So I think it's a mix of things. First
of all, you actually have to shrink the
whole asylum system. So we actually need
to have fewer people in the asylum
system in the first place. Fewer people
needing accommodation. That has to be at
the core of this. It's been allowed to
expand in a way that is out of control.
And then yes, we do also want to see
alternative sites, more appropriate
sites, including looking at military and
industrial sites as well. But the core
of it has to be clearing the numbers out
of the system and preventing as many
people getting into the system in the
first place.
>> Home secretary, what's an industrial
site? What does that mean?
>> We will update provide more updates uh
on this, but the point is we're looking
at a range of different locations
working
>> I mean a disused carpet warehouse or
something. What is an industrial site?
Well, we're looking with other
government departments and looking with
uh the local councils at what some more
appropriate sites might be and certainly
uh more appropriate than asylum hotels.
We have managed to cut the bill for
these costly asylum hotels by nearly a
billion pounds this year.
>> But is it a warehouse? This is an
industrial site or warehouse.
>> There there are a range of different
things that we're looking at.
>> Can you give me an example?
>> Not not yet. and I will do so as we've
got more progress on this because
>> so you're looking at something you and
your colleagues are looking at something
and you've no idea of the example of
what it might be. Let's look at
industrial sites home secretary. That's
a good idea and no one knows what it is.
>> Um um well I'm I'll we will provide you
with more updates when we've got
progress. That's one of the things
that's been looked at, but we will
provide updates when we've got the
practical plans. Well, I'm not going to
do I'm doing the opposite basically of
what the previous government did because
they used to just announce a whole load
of things and then not actually deliver
any of them. And I think that undermined
trust.
>> Well, where you're doing the same as the
previous administration is so you're not
managing to stop the boats. The
so-called onein oneout scheme. You'll be
aware since that was signed 3,567
individuals have arrived in this
country. Zero have gone out. What
progress would you describe that as?
Well, the treaty was signed just four
weeks ago and it is a pilot. We've been
clear about that and that pilot means
being able to for the first time return
people to France. So, we're continuing
to return people, failed asylum seekers.
So, those numbers have gone up and
35,000 people have been returned in the
course of this year.
>> How many of those are failed asylum
seekers though? How many of those are
students who've outstayed their visa?
>> It is a mix of things. We've got a 28%
increase in failed asylum seekers, a 14%
increase in foreign national offenders.
But to go back to your point about the
French pilot because it is important
this
>> the first people are in detention at the
moment and we expect the first returns
to take place later this month. We've
always been clear and it needs to build.
>> So these are new processes that we're
putting in place. So the first stage is
we take people into detention and we
then put their cases to France. The
cases are then referred to France. Then
we have to get the agreements on both
the returns and the timetable for
returns. Alongside that, we are
simultaneously doing security checks on
people who have applied to come to the
UK through the lawful route. So these
are new processes. Of course, they've
got to be rolled out, but it I think
there's
>> Will it happen in September, Home
Secretary?
>> That's our expectation.
>> No, but can you pledge that it will
happen in September?
>> That is our expectation.
>> So you can't guarantee it will happen in
September. We know that we will work
through different legal challenges.
>> Why weren't you advised to this by your
lawyers? It makes it sound like you
suddenly realized these problems. You
must have been aware of these.
>> Well, no, quite the opposite actually.
>> Well, the lawyers didn't adise you.
>> No, quite the opposite as in we've
always been clear that it would take
time to roll out the first phase of this
and the plan is saying in August that it
would be within weeks. Now in September,
it would be within weeks. I wonder if
we'll be saying the same in October.
It's it's four weeks since we signed the
treaty and if you remember the Rwanda
agreement that the previous government
had, they ran it for two years and sent
no one. So we're working actually at
quite rapid pace to get people into
detention and to get those return cases
referred.
>> We talked about your ambition to close
those hotels. Is it the government's
view then that asylum seekers should be
housed in 300,000 luxury town houses in
Suffukk?
No, we want people to be in more
appropriate accommodation and also
>> Well, that's fantastically appropriate.
I'd love a£300,000 townhouse hours and
stuff, but what what and these are brand
new. What why do asylum seekers qualify
for those and not indigenous homeless
people? Home Secretary,
>> so we that's why we need to reduce the
overall size of the asylum system so
that we have fewer people in asylum
accommodation in the first place. It's
why we're making changes to the family
reunion arrangements, for example. It's
why we're making these changes on
students as well. We need fewer people
in the asylum system so we don't have
people in costly accommodation that is
being funded by the taxpayer for long
periods of time. The system that we
inherited was broken. So it does require
a whole series of different reforms. A
lot of those reforms are underway and
we're going to be setting out another
phase of new further reforms including
on the appeals system so that we we're
already cutting the costs. So, we're
saving a billion pounds already this
year. Remember, under the previous
government, I was on like about£9
million a day that they were spending on
asylum accommodation and on these
hotels. We've brought that substantially
down, but we need to go further.
>> Okay. You you talked yesterday about the
suspension of the refugee family scheme.
It's a temporary suspension, I read. How
long for?
>> So, we aim to get a new framework in
place um within about 6 months. So we
are suspending the system completely at
the moment. Yeah. While we get the new
system in place
>> and what happens after 6 months
>> then we'll have the new system in place.
We'll consult on that. I think at the
moment the problem we've got is we have
newly granted refugees who are then able
to apply to bring family within a month
often before they've got a job before
they're able to support their families
and so on. For British citizens they
have to meet salary requirements. They
have to make sure that their
contribution Exactly. So, we think that
that system, it needs to be reformed. Of
course, we've got to have, you know,
always had the long-standing systems
that support families, but we think that
the current system is ending up just
increasing homelessness pressures on
local authorities and that's not fair.
>> But homelessness pressures and then
people get housed in brand new homes in
Suffukk. I return you to that. How com
how comfortable are you with that story
yesterday? But that's why we need to
reduce the overall system. Well, we want
people in a in much cheaper
accommodation. We want to reduce value
for money. We do need to make sure that
the system is spread across the country
as well. But that means already saving
nearly a billion pounds. That's
important, but we're determined to go
further. We're determined to save
billions of pounds more over the next
few years with the reforms that we're
making. Some of the money that was spent
last week was to employ very expensive
counsel to appear at the Court of
Appeal. Council that argued, and I
quote, "The relevant public interests in
play are not equal and are fundamentally
different in nature." Close quotes. This
was to support the rights of asylum
seekers to stay at the Bell Hotel in
Eping as against the views of the local
taxpaying individuals. How comfortable
were you with sanctioning that legal
approach,
>> acting against the interests of the
electorate? No, the the approach is
actually about how you have an ordered
and controlled way to end asylum hotel
use. So the we've been clear we need to
end hotels and that includes ending all
hotels across the country including the
Bell Hotel. But what we need to do is
make sure that those closures happen as
part of a planned process. If it's done
in an ad hoc way, so in one way it's one
area it's closed by the courts, but then
that means you then have bigger
pressures on another area next door or
in other areas and communities or you
end up frankly with the kind of chaos
that the Conservatives had in 2022 when
they lost so much control of the system.
They had to I think a lot of my
listeners seem this is fairly chaotic
numbers of hotels
>> 3,560 in zero out. I do have to say that
I think that's fairly chaotic. Some
might argue
>> uh you the the boats arriving is a
serious problem and that's why we need
the new powers in place as well. But the
new uh the new treaty with France I
think is an important one. It's the
first time it's been done and it is
right that we start returning people to
France.
>> Last minute or so together. Zakir
Stalmer has had as his five years as
leader of the party or indeed one year
as prime minister has had four directors
of communications, four chiefs of staff,
at least five heads of policy and four
political secretaries. If it was a
football team, you'd be relegated. Why
can't he get the message across?
>> Well, I think what uh the prime
minister's been doing though is putting
in place now the team for the next
phase.
>> Well, it's a different team every year,
Home Secretary.
>> Well, he's described it yesterday. He
described it yesterday, I think, as
being we've the the first phase over the
last 12 months has been about trying to
fix the foundations and now going to
accelerate and to focus on the delivery.
>> If we look at the treasury now, making
sure he's got the right people in place.
>> Iette Cooper, if we look at the Treasury
now, we were told a little over a year
everything was fully costed. Now it's
got more chefs than Clarage is trying to
make it work. What's gone wrong?
Well, we obviously have had the huge
difficulties that we've inherited from
the
>> inheritance, isn't it?
>> No, I know that is important, Nick.
>> But you've been there. Why did the
family idea suddenly ignore? You've been
there 13 months. Why did it take that
long to have this family idea?
>> Oh, the family reunion thing. We've been
looking at the evidence and the family
the family reunion things have changed
compared to 5 years ago.
>> I know 20,000 plays 4,000. I understand
that. The number the pressure of numbers
is far greater now. Yes, I hear that. So
the numbers of the family issue has
changed. Five years ago when I was
talking about family reunion 5 years ago
that the numbers were much lower and
also people were more likely to be
applying after they've been working for
a year or two years and were working to
support their families. Now we've got
people who are applying within a month
and we've got evidence that the criminal
gangs are using it to uh to exploit
people and to encourage people to get on
the boats in the first place by
promising them family reunion. Let's
finish responding to is the things that
that where we've seen the evidence of a
growing problem and moving fast to solve
it.
>> Let's finish on a promise home
secretary. As and when and let's
hopefully later this month the first one
in one out comes about. Can I ask you to
promise that you'll come on the show to
give us the details? We'll certainly
come back on the show and talk to you
about