National Audit Office: The costs of the UK-Rwanda Partnership

Under the partnership the Home Office will pay £370 million to the Government of Rwanda under the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund. The UK will pay a further £20,000 into the Fund for every individual who is relocated and £120 million once 300 people have been relocated.

The UK will also pay a total of up to £150,874 per individual for processing and operational costs over five years. These payments will stop if the individual chooses to leave Rwanda and in that event the UK will pay £10,000 per person to help facilitate their departure.

By February 2024 the Home Office had incurred direct costs of £20 million setting up the partnership; it expects this to rise to £28 million by the end of 2023-24. The Home Office estimates that it will incur further costs between now and the end of the scheme.

The UK Government will pay £370 million under the UK-Rwanda Partnership, a further £20,000 per individual and £120 million once the first 300 people have been relocated, plus £150,874 per individual for processing and operational costs, according to a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO).¹

In its report² – The costs of the UK-Rwanda Partnership – the NAO sets out the Home Office’s fixed and variable costs relating to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda. The report - produced in response to a request by the Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees - also considers the Home Office’s oversight and approach to monitoring. The report is based on Home Office information as at February 2024.³

In implementing the partnership, the Home Office has agreed to make two types of direct payments to the Government of Rwanda: those to the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF), which is designed to support economic growth in Rwanda; and payments to cover asylum processing and operational costs for individuals relocated to Rwanda.

The Home Office has paid £220 million into the ETIF since April 2022, and it will pay further amounts of £50 million in 2024-25, £50 million in 2025-26, and £50 million in 2026-27. An additional one-off £120 million is due after the first 300 people are relocated to Rwanda. Beyond that, a further £20,000 will be paid by the Home Office after each person relocates.

The Home Office has also agreed a five-year processing and integration package for each relocated person, which covers accommodation, essential items such as food, medical services, education, and other integration programmes.⁴ Over five years the UK will make payments of up to £150,874 per individual who remains in Rwanda.⁵

£20 million was paid by the Home Office in April 2022 as an advance for the first arrivals of relocated individuals. No further payments would be made under asylum processing and operational costs until this forward payment is depleted against future costs. 

If a relocated individual decides to leave Rwanda voluntarily, the UK would stop payments for that individual but pay the Government of Rwanda a one-off £10,000 to help facilitate a voluntary departure.⁶

The costs set out in the report are the direct costs associated with the partnership. There are wider costs of implementing the Illegal Migration Act that have not been considered as part of the report.

The Home Office may need to use a non-commercial flight operator and airport to remove people from the UK andplans to undertake works to improve security arrangements.

In addition to the ETIF and processing fees, the Home Office has also incurred costs in setting up the partnership. As at February 2024 these include:

• Around £2 million of direct staff costs
• £2.3 million in legal fees (excluding claimants’ costs)
• £15.3 million in set-up costs for escorting people to Rwanda and providing training facilities. The Home Office estimates that escorting costs will total £23.5 million by the end of 2023-24. 

The Home Office estimates that future costs would be around:

• £1 million per year in staff costs from 2024-25;  
• £11,000 per relocated individual for flights (including chartering and fuel) to travel to Rwanda; and
• £12.6 million for training escorts in 2024-25 and then £1 million per year in future fixed costs relating to escorting. There will be further costs of providing escorts to relocate individuals, the amount depending on the number of flights required. 

The report does not conclude on value for money, as this is dependent on whether the partnership deters individuals from making illegal journeys to claim asylum in the UK. The report is based on information provided by the Home Office in February 2024. The NAO has not assessed the accuracy and completeness of the Home Office’s cost estimates or assumptions.⁷

ENDS

Notes for Editors

1. On 8 December 2023, the Chairs of the Public Accounts and Home Affairs Committees wrote to the Comptroller and Auditor General to express their concern at the lack of information available to Parliament in relation to spending on the Rwanda partnership. They asked whether the National Audit Office would consider the costs of the partnership, and its value for money.
2. In response to requests by the Public Accounts Committee and the Home Affairs Committee, the C&AG decided to produce a report which sets out the Home Office’s fixed and variable costs relating to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda. This report does not conclude on value for money, given that this would rest on whether the partnership deters individuals from making illegal journeys to claim asylum in the UK.
3. The NAO conducted its fieldwork between January and February 2024.
4. We have not examined the progress made by the Home Office to deliver the aims and objectives of the partnership, nor its management of the partnership. Our report does not cover the possible financial implications for other departments, such as the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
5. The £150,874 is up to a maximum of: Year 1- £45,262 (this includes £11,000 for the asylum assessment); Year 2 - £37,718; Year 3 - £30,175; Year 4 - £22,632; and Year 5 - £15,087. In January 2024 the Home Office agreed to pay a further £100 per year (up to £500 in total) per individual as a contribution towards their healthcare costs.
6. The partnership runs until 13 April 2027, and the Home Office is planning to relocate people up to March 2028. On this basis it would potentially continue to make payments under the partnership until March 2033 (five years after the final person was relocated).
7. At this point, the Home Office’s estimates are uncertain as they are sensitive to planning assumptions - such as the number of relocated people on each flight to Rwanda.