Full Breakdown
UK “One-in-One-out” Pilot Faces High Costs and Uncertain Future
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Core Details of the Scheme
The “one-in-one-out” pilot, launched in August 2025, swaps a person who arrives in the UK by small boat for an asylum seeker who has applied through a legal route and is sent to France. The Home Office has removed roughly 1,400 people to France under the arrangement. The pilot, already extended once, is scheduled to run until October 1 2026, after which the government has signaled it will not be renewed.
Financial and Operational Figures
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Home Affairs Select Committee that each return costs about £56,000 per person. Operationally, the scheme has struggled to scale, with limited detention space and other constraints keeping the numbers “relatively small.”
Official Statements & Responses
Mahmood defended the pilot’s value, noting it has returned more migrants than the UK ever managed under the pre-Brexit Dublin system. She dismissed the idea that an EU-wide returns pact would be a “silver bullet” for the Channel crossing issue. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has indicated France wants to end the bilateral arrangement, preferring a broader EU-UK returns deal.
Verbatim Quotes
- “So I have already clearly told my counterpart that this pilot agreement, which we signed in August 2025, was not intended to be renewed beyond October 1, 2026.” — Shabana Mahmood
- “If you’re a failed asylum-seeking family, what you’re trading off is an offer of £40,000, which will help you resettle back in your country of origin, versus, you know, access to free healthcare and education for your children.” — Britain. She
What’s Next
The government’s decision on a longer-term returns framework remains pending, with France urging an EU-wide solution.