UK Government criticised over management of multi-billion pound Afghan relocation scheme

Emily Price

The UK Government has been strongly criticised over its management of a multi-billion pound scheme to resettle thousands of Afghan citizens in Britain.

A new report published on Wednesday (March 18) by the National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that ministers in Westminister must overcome ongoing challenges, including a lack of available housing and poor data, to ensure the programme is successfully completed.

Since 2010, the government has offered resettlement in the UK to certain groups of Afghan citizens, including people who worked with the British military during its presence in Afghanistan.

This work came with significant risk to those Afghan citizens and their families who feared reprisals from the Taliban.

Although the schemes closed to new applicants in July 2025, thousands of Afghans are still being processed for resettlement in the UK.

As of November 2025, 29,655 people were still waiting to hear the results of their eligibility assessments.

Between April 2021 and December 2025, 37,950 people arrived in the UK under the schemes and, as of February 2025, the government estimated it would ultimately resettle around 9,000 more.

Of those resettled, as of December 2025, 80% were living in settled accommodation sourced by local authorities, central government or the resettled individuals themselves.

Afghan citizens have settled in every region of the UK, with the highest concentration being in the south-east of England.

In Wales, over 800 Afghan refugees have been offered sanctuary since 2021.

The UK Government anticipates that its work to resettle and integrate people will continue until 2032-33 – costing a total of £5.7 billion.

It spent £3.1 billion on the schemes between April 2021 and December 2025, meaning a significant proportion of the costs have not yet been incurred.

Several UK Government departments worked at pace under demanding circumstances when establishing the schemes, especially after the Taliban takeover resulted in a far greater number of people applying and becoming eligible for resettlement than had originally been estimated.

The need to respond quickly, coupled with departments being responsible for different groups of people and resettlement stages, meant that government schemes became complex and inefficient.

This is likely to have led to higher costs and worse outcomes for resettled people.

To address these challenges, in December 2024 the UK Government merged the resettlement schemes into a combined Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), which aimed to bring all eligible Afghan citizens to the UK by March 2029 and to have moved those citizens out of transitional accommodation by December 2029.

Although the creation of the ARP has led to some improvements, the NAO’s investigation found that significant risks remain.

These include poor data on the people to be resettled and their needs, and a lack of available housing, resulting in greater than anticipated levels of resettled people becoming homeless.

To ensure the successful completion of the ARP, the NAO has recommended that the government urgently completes the outstanding elements of effective programme management and undertakes scenario analysis to understand the barriers to completing the resettlement of all eligible people to the UK.

The NAO has also called on the UK Government to monitor the effect of the changes under the ARP, particularly the introduction of a nine-month limit for transitional accommodation.

The government should then use the results of pilot programmes involving local authorities and community organisations to identify innovative approaches and spread good practice.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Government departments have worked together in challenging conditions to resettle thousands of Afghan citizens who were at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.

“Although progress has been made under the new Afghan Resettlement Programme, the government has more to do to successfully resettle the affected people in the UK.”

A UK Government Spokesperson said: “The report clearly sets out the scale and complexity of Afghan resettlement, and recognises the progress that has been made, with around 38,000 Afghans already settled in the UK, and we remain committed to our target of completing Afghan resettlement by the end of this parliament.

“The Afghan Resettlement Programme, introduced by this government, brings all schemes into a single pathway to deliver better outcomes for eligible Afghans and stronger value for money, with work continuing across government to ensure the programme is delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“We have also recently introduced new key performance indicators to improve case handling times and provide greater transparency for applicants and their supporters – alongside an online ARAP eligibility self-checker.”