The UK government's "one in, one out" deal, which involves sending individuals who arrive by small boats back to France, costs around £56,000 for every person returned. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood disclosed this figure to the home affairs select committee while discussing the scheme's value for taxpayers.
Since its inception in August 2025, approximately 1,400 people have been removed to France under the scheme. Mahmood defended the cost, stating it is "still cheaper, or just about the same as supporting someone in a hotel for a year."
The pilot agreement has been extended once and is currently set to conclude in October. France's interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has indicated a desire to end the scheme, preferring it be integrated into a wider EU-UK returns deal. Mahmood, however, dismissed the idea of an EU-wide system as a "silver bullet" for the Channel crisis.