Politics Home | Switzerland restored trust in its asylum system. What can the UK learn?

Like other European countries, the United Kingdom faces twin pressures of meeting its legal obligations to people seek­ing asylum while responding to public concern about cost, capacity and local impact. Accommodating those arriving in the UK sits at the heart of this challenge – highly visible, operation­ally complex and central to both those housed in it and maintaining public trust.

Over the course of three decades, Serco has provided immigration services across the asylum system on behalf of governments. Not just in the UK, but in Switzerland, Germany and other coun­tries around the world. Our experience says that the best asylum systems are grounded in fairness, safety and value for money – both for local communities and for the people being accommodated.

That’s why we support the UK govern­ment’s plan to exit hotels. They were never designed to be a long-term answer. Since the peak in 2023, we have halved the number of asylum hotels in use across the regions we operate. But what is the long-term solution? How can we be flexible to changing flows while delivering value for taxpayers?

A new report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), sponsored by Serco, shows how Switzerland has overcome these pressures and reformed its asylum process to generate a faster, fairer and firmer approach.

What differs from the UK is that, upon arrival, claimants are accommodated in larger asylum centres – either purpose-built centres or retrofitted former hospitals, offices and former student accommoda­tion – evenly spread across the country. Located alongside them are officials to process claims, legal advisers and welfare support services. Everyone is accessible; everything needed to resolve a claim is under one roof. That means people can be processed more quickly – a maximum target of 140 days. Those deemed eligi­ble for asylum are then dispersed into communities, while those with no right to remain are removed.

The report by the SMF highlights how accommodation can support the objectives of the asylum system as a whole – enabling faster decision making, better access to services and clearer tran­sitions through the process, ultimately reducing the pressure often felt by local communities. In Switzerland, Serco deliv­ers asylum accommodation on behalf of federal and cantonal governments across over 50 per cent of the country.

Operating in Switzerland, in Germany and previously in Australia gives us valu­able lessons to share. That experience matters if we are to develop long-term sustainable solutions. It means we under­stand not just what works on paper, but what can be delivered at pace, at scale and in partnership with communities. Today, our role is clear: to provide safe, decent accommodation while claims are determined, and to support government ambitions to move away from hotels towards more sustainable solutions.

Looking ahead, exiting hotels is an important milestone, not the end goal. The real prize is a long-term accommodation system that is resilient, cost-ef­fective and publicly credible, built through learning from international practice and a relentless focus on deliv­ery, by experienced delivery partners working with communities.

To find out more about the Swiss role model report, please click here.