More than 28,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year (Image: Getty)
Top civil servants in the Home Office have pocketed pay rises and bonuses despite Britain’s asylum crisis spiralling out of control, the Express can reveal. Some mandarins saw their salaries rise by as much as 24% last year, while others raked in bonuses of up to ￡15,000.
Martin Hewitt, Labour’s border security commander, is the highest-paid civil servant at the Home Office with a salary of ￡200-205,000. It comes as fury intensified over Labour’s record in office during its first full year in government. A record 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year to June, and the number of migrants living in hotels has increased over the past 12 months.
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Yvette Cooper is under intense pressure to end the Channel migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
The UK has been seeking new deals with European partners (Image: Getty)
Small boat arrivals are also up nearly 50%, with some 28,000 migrants crossing the Channel in the first eight months of 2025 – putting the UK on course for a record-breaking year.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour’s Home Office is a dismal failure. Record numbers of illegal immigrants are crossing the Channel this year, numbers in asylum hotels are up since the election, and the proportion of small boat arrivals removed is down to just 5%.
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“Labour has lost control of our borders and they have no plan to fix it. Instead, they’re doling out even more of our hard-earned cash.”
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson told the Express: “If they were working in the private sector, they'd be sacked.
“They shouldn't be getting any rises or bonuses. They are failing.”
The department’s annual report also revealed second permanent secretary Simon Ridley, who often gives evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee about the asylum crisis, saw his pay increase by ￡5,000 to ￡170-175,000.
Mr Ridley famously revealed the Home Office is shelling out money for empty hotel beds in case there was a surge in Channel crossings.
The director-general of Border Force, Philip Douglas, saw his basic salary increase to ￡140-145,000. In 2023-24, he earned ￡135-140,000.
But Mr Douglas also received bonuses of ￡10,000 - ￡15,000 in 2024/25.
The previous year he received ￡130,000 for heading up the agency and was given a bonus said to be between ￡15,000 and ￡20,000.
Daniel Hobbs, the Director General of the Migration and Borders Group at the Home Office, also enjoyed a pay rise in 2024/25. Mr Hobbs now takes home a basic salary of ￡130,000 - ￡135,000. This is up from an annual salary of ￡125,000 to ￡130,000.
He has also received bonuses of up to ￡5,000 in each of the last two financial years.
The former top civil servant at the Home Office – Sir Matthew Rycroft, who left his role at the end of March – had a salary of ￡255-260,000, records show. This was up from ￡205-210,000 in 2023-24.
In total, the Home Office’s top officials pocketed an estimated ￡77,000 in bonuses in the last year on top of ￡85,000 they received in bonus payments the year before.
Former immigration minister Kevin Foster said: "With small boats arriving in record numbers, record numbers claiming asylum, asylum hotels blighting communities across the country and 'smash the gangs' becoming 'smash the records', it is a slap in the face for taxpayers to see the Home Office handing out bonuses to its senior staff.
"If this dismal performance is worthy of a bonus, goodness only knows what might actually cause them to consider their positions."
The Home Office annual report revealed: “Martin Hewitt is the highest-paid director for salary in 2024-25 but received no bonus, having started in the year.
“In 2023- 24, Sir Matthew Rycroft was the highest-paid director and received a bonus of ￡10,000. Sir Matthew was in post until March 28 2025 and received a bonus of ￡20-￡25,000.”
The analysis comes as shocking Home Office figures revealed there are some 32,059 migrants still living in hotels.
This is up 8% from 29,585 in the year to June 2024.
Channel crossings have also surged this year, with more than 28,000 people being detected this year – leading to fears the Home Office has lost control of the crisis.
A bombshell High Court legal ruling granting a temporary injunction to close the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, also plunged the Government’s asylum accommodation plan into turmoil.
Ministers fear it could open the floodgates to similar legal battles and could lead to more closures.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday confirmed Labour will fight to keep the hotel open, arguing closures must be done in an “properly managed way” rather than through “piecemeal court decisions”.
Somani Hotels, the owner of the Bell Hotel in Epping, also confirmed they will appeal against the closure order. paving the way for a showdown with the local community.
Some 111,084 people applied for protection in the year to June, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
This is up 14 per cent from 97,107 in the year to June 2024 and nearly double the number in 2021.
The asylum crisis cost taxpayers ￡4.76 billion a year in 2024/25, down from a record ￡5.38bn in 2023/24.
But the number of Channel migrants being deported under Labour is falling.
Some 2,330 people have been deported during Keir Starmer's first full year in office, compared to 2,516 in the final year of the Conservative Government.
Sources have described Mr Douglas as a “good man” who regularly presses the French to do more to prevent Channel migrant crossings.
The sharp increase in asylum claims was fuelled by a surge in migrants lodging claims after arriving on work and study visas and failed asylum seekers trying their luck after being rejected in Europe, experts said.
The most common nationalities among asylum applicants in the year to June 2025 were Pakistani (10.1% of the total), Afghan (7.5%), Iranian (7.0%) and Eritrean (6.7%).
Shocking analysis revealed 90% of Pakistanis claimed asylum after travelling to the UK on a valid visa, while 87% of Bangladeshi applicants travelled to the UK legally.
A further 71% of Indian asylum applicants used a visa to travel to the UK, highlighting widespread fears over the abuse of the UK’s generosity.
By contrast, 84% of Afghans who claimed asylum arrived by a small boat. Some 89% of Eritrean applicants arrived the same way.
Home Office insiders stressed the new Government is trying to overhaul the asylum system and improve relationships with European partners.
Sources pointed to an increase in intelligence sharing and law enforcement agreements with countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Iraq and Vietnam.
The Government also hopes the Border Security Bill will give Border Force and the National Crime Agency counter-terrorism style powers to snare smuggling gangs operating in France.
And they pointed towards the “one in, one out” deal struck with France, which insiders believe will act as a deterrent to migrants.
Bonuses are based on performance levels attained and are made as part of the annual appraisal process, The Sunday Express understands.
A Home Office source said: “The majority of these pay rises were set under the previous Tory government, including when the Shadow Home Secretary was a Minister in the Home Office. Bonuses were set by a former Permanent Secretary who is no longer in the department. Home Office Ministers are not involved in setting or agreeing bonuses.”
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “Protecting our borders is the number one priority for all those working at the Home Office.
“Under this Government, the Home Office has secured returns agreements with France and Iraq, in addition to ramping up action to remove 35,000 people with no right to be in the UK – a 13% increase from the same period last year.
“To continue achieving results for the British people, it is important we offer competitive salaries and bonuses to recruit and retain the best staff, whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.”
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