Answer from Hansard

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)

The previous Government lost control of our borders, and the result was a ruinously expensive asylum system that used more than 400 hotels at a cost of nearly £9 million a day. We have acted to cut those costs, with fewer than 200 hotels now in use. Our historic agreement with France means small boat departures are prevented, arrivals are detained, and those with no right to be in the UK are returned. As the House knows, I will shortly make a statement setting out the additional steps to go further and faster in the reform of our asylum system.