Civil servants can earn up to £350 a month extra by increasing the amount of cases they approve or reject, sources familiar with the bonus scheme told The i Paper.
There are fears the bonus incentive could lead to more poor asylum decisions being made, with decision makers “rushing” through the claims to make more money, refugee charities and experts warned.
The Home Office said bonuses for staff were based on the “consistent delivery of high-quality work”, and that “all asylum decisions are subject to stringent quality checks”.
A record 111,000 asylum claims were made in the year to June, with the number of people arriving via the English Channel on small boats increasing by a third to 43,000 during the period.
The temporary bonus scheme for Home Office staff was launched in June and will be reviewed in September, The i Paper understands.
Staff get £50 for the first extra decision they make above their target, then £75 for each extra decision, up to a maximum £350 a month.
However, they said there was unease over the possibility of the scheme leading to rushed decisions.
Use of hotels to house asylum seekers has sparked a wave of protests (Photo by Martin Pope/Getty)
Concerns about the quality of decision making was also expressed by Lucy Moreton, a senior official at the Immigration Service Union, which represents asylum claim processing staff.
“But there is a logical risk that decisions as a whole – granting and refusing – are taken without as much time as they need… the more pressure you are under to do something quickly, the quality of the decision making may fall.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, feared speed could be prioritised over the “quality of decision-making” due to bonuses, creating a “second backlog in the appeals system.”
Bonus scheme is ‘panic move’
Chris Philp said: “This is the consequence of Labour’s weakness – chaos at the border, gimmicks at the Home Office, and taxpayers footing the bill.”
“It’s appalling that people should have to be paid extra to do their job. It reflects the fact that the Government is clearly struggling and flailing around on this issue.
He also said speeding up the granting of asylum claims would do nothing to address the increase in small boat arrivals seen this year. “There is a need for a clear deterrent, something like offshore processing, to deter so many people coming.”
The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has increased in 2025 (Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty)Fears for extra pressure on appeals system
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the Government will address the “completely unacceptable” delays with a fast-tracked appeals system, which will see legally qualified independent “adjudicators” hear appeals in place of judges.
Marley Morris, associate director for migration at the IPPR think tank, said the bonus scheme was “broadly speaking sensible” as a way of reducing the backlog but shared concerns about the quality of the decision-making.
Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the PCS union, which represents some Home Office staff, said the scheme “threatens the integrity of the decision-making process”, adding: “Each case needs care and consideration, and rushing the process undermines this.”
The i Paper understands that it is not an overtime scheme, and that pro-rata, equivalent payments are also available to part-time staff doing fewer hours.
They added: “All asylum decisions are subject to stringent quality checks, with individual performance targets agreed with managers and reviewed regularly to ensure the high standards expected are consistently met.”
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