Immigration courts backlog DOUBLES since Labour got here to energy, topping 121,000 circumstances
The backlog in the immigration courts has more than doubled under Labour, hitting more than 121,000 cases, new figures revealed today.
HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) published new data showing there were 121,010 applications awaiting a hearing in the immigration and asylum tribunal at the end of September.
The figure stood at just 58,441 at the end of June last year, immediately before the general election.
It is unclear from the data how many of the backlog are asylum cases and how many are other types of immigration appeals.
But figures published in the summer showed there are at least 51,000 asylum appeals awaiting a hearing.
The taxpayer pays for accommodation and living costs for failed asylum seekers until their appeals have been concluded.
It means delays in the asylum tribunal will be pushing up the £4.7billion a year cost of the asylum system.
The new HMCTS figures showed the backlog in the immigration and asylum tribunal has been climbing by between 4,000 and 6,000 cases a month since autumn last year.
Field House in central London is one of a nationwide network of immigration and asylum tribunal centres
The latest jump – between August and September this year – was 4,069 cases.
Operation of the tribunals was overseen by Shabana Mahmood when she was Justice Secretary until her promotion to Home Secretary in September.
Justice Secretary David Lammy, and his predecessor in the role Shabana Mahmood, have overseen a rocketing backlog in the immigration and asylum tribunals
It is now the responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who is also Justice Secretary.
According to latest figures the Home Office is supporting 103,000 migrants at the taxpayers’ expense including just over 32,000 in hotels.
Since Labour came to power last year 62,317 Channel migrants have reached British soil.
It includes more than 10,000 small boat migrants since Shabana Mahmood became Home Secretary – a grim milestone reached more quickly than under any of her predecessors since 2022.
The 10,000 point was reached after she was in charge of the Home Office for 66 days.
Under her predecessor Yvette Cooper it took 74 days to reach the same level.
Ms Cooper was moved sideways to the Foreign Office by the PM after failing to get a grip of the Channel crisis.
Under Tory home secretaries the 10,000 point took 171 days under James Cleverly and 583 days under Priti Patel.
Only under Suella Braverman was the same point reached more quickly, in 43 days in 2022 – the year which saw a record annual number of migrants amid a surge of Albanian arrivals.
