Britain’s asylum system is under severe strain, with a parliamentary watchdog warning that oversight has broken down and the Government cannot properly account for large parts of the system.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said control of asylum accommodation had become so weak that it was “all but lost”, raising serious questions over how the Home Office tracks applicants and manages public spending.

The committee’s findings paint a picture of repeated administrative failure, with MPs warning that short-term fixes have replaced any coherent long-term strategy.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who chairs the PAC, said: “At the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost.”

He added that a reliance on reactive decision-making had left officials “chasing after pressures pushed from one part of the system to the next”, with communication between agencies described as “patchy at best”.

The report raises concerns over how effectively the Home Office monitors people moving through the asylum system, particularly those whose claims have been refused.

MPs found that of 5,000 people who claimed asylum in January 2023, 41 per cent remained “in limbo”, with no final decision on their cases.

The committee also warned the department does not reliably know the whereabouts of many failed asylum seekers, saying officials only had visibility of the “vast majority”, and in some cases admitted uncertainty over individuals who had left the system, reports GB News.

It called for a full overhaul of tracking and enforcement, including clearer deportation timelines and stronger action against those who breach bail conditions.

The PAC said the lack of accurate data meant it was impossible for the Government to demonstrate it was managing the system effectively or controlling costs.

The scale of the challenge has grown sharply in recent years. By December 2025, around 100,600 people were claiming asylum in the UK, more than double the number recorded in 2019.

At the same time, asylum-related spending has surged, reaching around £4.9billion in 2024 and 2025, including £3.4billion on accommodation and support.

Accommodation pressures have forced widespread use of hotels, with around 36,300 asylum seekers housed in temporary hotel sites by the end of September last year.

The Government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029, instead relying on alternative sites such as former military bases and house-in-multiple-occupation schemes, although previous attempts have faced criticism over delivery and practicality.

Migration Watch chairman Alp Mehmet said the problems were longstanding and warned they carried both financial and security implications.

He argued that rejected asylum seekers should be detained and removed more quickly, and said the wider system was failing to prevent people remaining in the UK without clearance.

In response, a Home Office spokesman said asylum claims were falling, enforcement was at record levels, and tens of thousands of migrants had been removed since the Government took office.

The department said nearly 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals had been removed and insisted anyone breaching bail conditions would be traced and arrested.