Asylum seeker social care

For much of this week, Westminster and much of the country were gripped by some shocking revelations. No, I’m not talking about the antics of a not-so-noble Lord but rather the TPA’s latest research.

Our team of wonks have calculated that local authority social care spending for asylum seekers hit an extraordinary £744 million in 2024-25. Spending has more than doubled from the £299 million spent in 2019-20. Total council spending on social care for asylum seeking adults was almost £134 million in 2024-25, up from £50.6 million five years prior. Over £600 million is also now being spent on social care for asylum seeking children, with £287.2 million of this being spent on children who remain with their families and £322.6 million being spent on unaccompanied children.

Kent county council topped the table with an eye-watering bill of £41.6 million, almost double the second highest spending local authority, Hampshire, on £23.9 million. Manchester completed the top three with £23.2 million. Check out the full findings here.

The findings certainly caught the attention of Fleet Street with our report being covered by the Sun, Telegraph, Daily Mail, GB News, the Times, and the Express. Anne Strickland was spot on when she told reporters: “The escalating costs of providing social care for asylum seekers represents yet another ticking time bomb in town hall budgets, with local residents suffering the consequences. Taxpayers have watched on with dismay at the failure of successive governments to get a grip on this issue, knowing that they will inevitably end up picking up the tab. With councils essentially helpless in the face of this ongoing crisis, it’s imperative that Whitehall urgently finds a way to stop the migration crisis.” Anne and William Yarwood could soon be found in the TPA studio going through the key findings from the report which you can watch here.

Following up with an op-ed in the Critic, Callum McGoldrick highlighted the pressure on local budgets: “Although the Home Office provides specific grants, councils consistently report that these reimbursements fall far short of the actual costs of care and support. When the funding gap appears, it must be filled from the council’s general fund, the same pot of money used for fixing potholes, maintaining parks, and cleaning streets. The result is that the asylum crisis is directly cannibalizing local services.”

Opposition politicians like shadow home secretary Chris Philp, his junior shadow minister Katie Lam, Tory backbencher Jack Rankin, and Reform's latest defector (and guest on last week's a nation of taxpayers) Andrew Rosindell.

Inevitably, the broadcasters wanted a slice of the action. While William headed off to the GB News studio, Darwin Friend could be found going out to bat on Talk radio. Darwin knew exactly where to lay the blame for this situation telling listeners: “It’s not sustainable… Ultimately, I actually feel sorry for the councils that are having to deliver these social care obligations because they’re a statutory duty, they have no option about delivering social care whether they want to or not. The central government needs to crack down on this illegal migrant crisis because that’s the only way we’re going to bring these costs down for taxpayers.”

While ministers and officials in Whitehall bury their heads in the sand, the consequences of the migrant crisis are being felt in communities across the country.

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Was Brexit Betrayed?

Anne joined podcast host Duncan Barkes and Catherine McBride - trade adviser, economist and media commentator - for this week’s episode of a nation of taxpayers.

Together they talk about the missed opportunities of Brexit, the importance of trade, how Labour could boost the economy and who else from the Tories would be a good fit for Reform UK. Catherine also shares her view on the recently created Prosper UK - headed up by Andy Street and Ruth Davidson.

This feisty episode of a nation of taxpayers can be heard on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watched on YouTube now.

Unleash Wales

I think it’s probably fair to say Britain isn’t firing on all cylinders at the moment and hasn’t been for some time. There’s a sense of frustration and resignation. Those who strive and want to support themselves and their families are hampered by meddling politicians and an oppressive bureaucratic burden. We see this all over the country but perhaps most acutely in Wales. Which is why we’ve launched our latest campaign: Unleash Wales.

As we always do, we'll be challenging the policies that make life harder, more expensive and less free for people across Wales. From motorists and businesses to rural communities and families, too many decisions are being taken without regard for the real-world consequences.

We kicked things off in Cardiff earlier this week where the council are looking to impose higher fees for parking permits for those with larger vehicles, a move that would unfairly hit families and tradespeople simply for driving the cars and vans they need for everyday life and work. As I explain in the video above: “These cars aren’t luxuries, they’re essentials for everyday life, for getting the kids to school and doing the weekly shop. And they’re not the only ones. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, heating engineers, painters and decorators - anyone who needs their own van to make a living risks being hit by these higher charges.”

If you live in Cardiff, click here to tell the council leader to scrap the family car tax!

Instead of tackling the big issues like the cost of living or the record high tax burden, politicians are focussed on their own pet projects. But their actions have consequences and those consequences are felt by ordinary working people across Wales. Enough is enough. It’s time to Unleash Wales.

Debt Clock

As regular readers will know, we’ve been highlighting the rapidly growing national debt for years with our Debt Clock and we recently hit a grim milestone. When the TPA eggheads fed in the latest data, we were shocked to see that the UK is now borrowing more than £500 million every single day!

Returning to the GB News studio (he’s basically a permanent fixture), William joined Martin Daubney leaving viewers in no doubt about how this happened: “We got here because various governments, both Conservative and Labour have lived beyond their means. Instead of cutting spending, they’ve taxed more and borrowed more.” Citing our previous paper on how to get the debt down, William explained: “Taking the longer term plan, that would require a budget surplus of £59 billion a year and a fiscal correction in the current year of over £120 billion!”

The only thing that’s growing in Britain is the civil service

We brought you the news last week that Britain’s civil service has continued to expand in recent years hitting 549,660 in March 2025 with a wage bill of £21 billion (and that’s not even including their gold-plated pensions).

John O’Connell penned an absolute corker of an op-ed in City A.M. this week, diving into the numbers and highlighting how it’s not just that the numbers are going up that should worry us but also that the civil service is becoming more and more top heavy.

John rightly points out that: “The number of senior staff jumped by nearly 10,000 last year. Meanwhile, junior administrative roles fell by over 4,500. The civil service is becoming more top-heavy, not more efficient, with more managers and fewer people doing frontline work… While GDP per capita stagnated, civil service headcount grew by 130,000. While businesses struggled with the highest tax burden for over 70 years, civil servants received guaranteed above-inflation pay rises. While young people face a future with no guaranteed state pension and are simultaneously penalised for saving privately, Whitehall’s gold-plated schemes remained untouched.” Have a read of John’s piece here.

An ode to taxpayers

I mentioned earlier the sense of frustration being felt in the country and it’s sadly an all too familiar feeling. There were plenty of other things that felt familiar this week too, namely a government plagued by scandal and infighting. Gossip, drama, intrigue and navel gazing - Christmas for the worst Westminster types.

With all this in mind, I’ve used this week’s blog to focus on those that bear the brunt of political folly - hard working Brits: “Our political class should be ashamed of itself. With few exceptions, our leaders have consistently let down the British public. During the years of chaos, they’ve not only failed to solve the pressing issues facing the country - from crime, to immigration, to welfare and the economy - they’ve on many occasions only added to the problem… To those men and women, the people who fund our public services, employ our friends and family, and keep the country going despite the behaviour of those at the top, we say: thank you. We, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, will always be on your side.”

War on Waste

The superbowl might not kick off for a few more hours but it looks like things have already gone to overtime in Edinburgh. More than £1.8 million has been paid out in overtime to just 50 employees of Edinburgh city council over the last two years.

People should of course be paid for any overtime they do but, as John pointed out: “Taxpayers will be seriously concerned at the overreliance on overtime at Edinburgh council. These sorts of practices are very expensive and should only be used when necessary. Given local government suffers from absenteeism, shorter working hours compared to the private sector, and work from home and work from abroad policies that harm productivity, it is particularly galling. Even more maddening is the fact that City of Edinburgh Council is considering bringing in a four day week. Bosses at this local authority should be focused on boosting productivity to limit the amount of overtime needed.” Quite right!

Thanks for reading

Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager