‘One in, one out’ scheme costs £56,000 per migrant, home secretary says

The government’s “one in, one out” scheme to send migrants who cross the Channel back to France costs on average £56,000 per person, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said.

That is higher than the Home Office’s estimated average cost for enforced migrant returns of £48,800.

The deal allows the UK to return some small boat arrivals while agreeing to take in the same number of people from France who are believed to have a legitimate claim to come to Britain.

Mahmood told MPs the policy had been “difficult” to scale up and the numbers involved were still “relatively small”.

She said the total number deported under the scheme since it began in August 2025 was around 1,400.

Asked by the Conservative MP Robbie Moore whether she thought the scheme had been a success, Mahmood said: “On its own terms, can you prove the concept that such a deal is viable, that you can get returns off and up and running – yes.

“It’s not been without its challenges, obviously. The numbers are still relatively small.

“What has been more operationally difficult is to scale up very large numbers of removals every week into the French system.”

She said the UN and other agencies had reported that some migrants were not getting on small boats because they thought there was a chance they could be accepted under the “one in, one out” scheme.