Story perspectives

Home Office wastes £71 m, refunds £18.7 m, faces ECHR backlash.

7/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Home Office’s accounting errors have caused at least £18.7 million in immigration health surcharge refunds to taxpayers, with recovery prospects uncertain.
The Home Office spent £22.9 million on an empty Hounslow hotel, £3.2 million on cancelled deportation flights and £35.2 million on a failed police database contract.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the spending a catastrophic waste and urged abandoning the European Convention on Human Rights to speed deportations.

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Story summary

The Home Office’s accounting errors have caused at least £18.7 million in immigration health surcharge refunds to taxpayers, with recovery prospects uncertain.
The Home Office spent £22.9 million on an empty Hounslow hotel, £3.2 million on cancelled deportation flights and £35.2 million on a failed police database contract.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the spending a catastrophic waste and urged abandoning the European Convention on Human Rights to speed deportations.