Suella Braverman says civil servants’ productivity on asylum claims is too low

Home secretary attacks rate of decision-making and does not rule out using cruise ships to house refugees

Suella Braverman has questioned the productivity of civil servants who process asylum claims and declined to rule out using cruise ships to house people seeking refuge in the UK, after admitting that the cost of providing accommodation for claimants will rise to £3.5bn this year.

The home secretary told peers on Wednesday that the productivity of her department’s staff had been “too low”, resulting in caseworkers processing one case a week on average.