'These cuts will drive migrant numbers up, not down... the asylum system will swell to 150,000 or more and use of hotels will surge'

THE worsening asylum crisis is likely to intensify after the Home Office was stung by Budget cuts, researchers claim.

- BY MICHAEL KNOWLES

They predict the number of migrants living in hotels could surge to 50,000, processing of asylum claims will slow and fewer people will be deported.

Documents from Treasury watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility revealed on Wednesday that “unprotected” government departments, such as the Home Office, will have to absorb spending cuts of up to 3.3%.

The Henry Jackson Society says this could also hit policing, which “plays a critical role” responding to the “criminal exploitation of migrants, tackling trafficking gangs and maintaining community safety around hotel sites”.

Researchers at the Right-wing think tank claim the cuts being pushed through by Rachel Reeves will leave “frontline teams with fewer resources at the very moment demand is rising”.

Some 36,273 asylum claimants are staying in taxpayer-funded rooms, a 13% rise on June’s figure of 32,041.

This could grow to between 45,000 and 50,000, the society’s modelling suggested, because the Home Office would not be able to process — and reject — as many applications to stay.