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Outsourcers win £2.9bn of asylum seeker accommodation contracts
Outsourcing firms Mears and Serco have between them won £2.9bn of contracts for asylum seeker accommodation from the Home Office.
In the biggest contract ever awarded to Serco, it will receive an estimated £1.9bn in revenue over the next 10 years for providing housing in the North West of England, the Midlands and the East of England.
Mears, meanwhile, is predicted to make £1bn of revenue from asylum seeker accommodation in Scotland, Northern Ireland and a third region: the North East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber.
David Miles, chief executive of Mears, said: “Mears provides housing and care to many thousands of people all across the UK. This experience, combined with our expertise in housing repairs and maintenance, means we are a strong partner for the government to deliver asylum accommodation and support that is safe, habitable and fit for purpose.”
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Rupert Soames, chief executive at Serco, added: “Over the past six years, Serco has cared for many tens of thousands of people while their asylum claims were being processed, and I am proud of the extraordinary commitment, skill and care Serco colleagues have shown while looking after some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.”
These contracts are part of the government’s new plan for asylum seeker accommodation, which will start on 1 April and last 10 years. It has still to award contracts for the South of England and Wales.
As the government has prepared to bring in the new contracts, the process has been mired in delays. In May last year, the Home Office admitted that it had failed to receive a single compliant bid for two regions: Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.
In September, Inside Housing revealed that as a result of the problems, some councils in Yorkshire had put on hold plans to join the government’s asylum seeker housing scheme, which is voluntary.
Asylum seeker housing in the two regions is currently run by Serco and fellow outsourcer G4S respectively. Mears will take over both contracts, despite never having provided housing to asylum seekers before.
In November, an official report from the chief inspector of borders and immigration found that just 24% of asylum seeker accommodation met minimum housing standards, with case studies revealing homes that were dirty, damp, leaking water, lacking ventilation, noisy and infested with rodents.
