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UK asylum applications fell by more than a fifth annually, government figures showed on Thursday, as ministers grapple with the politically contentious issue and reducing record-high recent numbers alongside asylum spending.
A total of 85,891 people applied for asylum in Britain in the 12 months to the end of June, down 21% year-on-year and the lowest total since the year to June 2022, according to interior ministry statistics.
Migrants who had crossed the English Channel in small boats, a highly controversial route that has fuelled the rise of the UK far right, accounted for 40% of the applications in the most recent period.
Small boat arrivals dropped by 23% across the same timeframe, with the ruling centre-left Labour Party insisting that shows the success of its policy of trying to disrupt the crossings “upstream” in Europe.
The drop in asylum claims was coupled with a decrease in the so-called asylum backlog: the number of people awaiting an initial decision and those with appeals pending at a tribunal.
Applicants waiting for a first decision dropped 56% in the year to June, to 40,168, the lowest number since March 2019.
Meanwhile the number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels, another divisive issue and flashpoint for protests, was down by half year-on-year, to 16,021.
Labour, in power since July 2024, has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the end of this parliament, due in 2029.
The decreases meant government spending on asylum, including direct cash support, accommodation, staffing and some border enforcement activity, fell 8% in 2025/26, to £4.36 billion (€5 billion). It was the second consecutive annual fall.
Interior minister Shabana Mahmood, retained by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham when he took charge last month, said the data showed the government was “restoring control” over the borders and asylum system.
“A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling,” she added, while insisting ministers were “not complacent.”
Separately on Thursday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the government had scored its lowest ranking with its policies for migrants and asylum seekers.
Britain’s independent equality regulator and national human rights institution said ministers had taken “inconsistent action” and policies were failing to uphold their rights in line with United Nations recommendations.
It identified gaps in social security provisions and failures to provide protection from poverty and destitution.
Additional sources • AFP