Repatriation: Payments
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2025 to Question 88185 on Hadush Kebatu, what operational guidance her Department has issued to prevent small discretionary payments from being used as (a) inducements and (b) bribes.
Answered by Alex Norris
All discretionary payments must go through a clearance process. Operational managers take into consideration the cost of returning someone to their final place of stay and supporting welfare and safety.
As always with expenditure on returns, these one-off costs must be set against the much higher long-term costs that would result from the same individuals remaining in the UK, including, where necessary, ongoing expenditure on accommodation or detention and the legal processes required to authorise their removal.
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