The British government has allocated over £6.5 million to encourage 4,625 foreign criminals to leave the UK. This Labour-led program, the Facilitated Return Scheme, provides financial incentives to expedite the removal of foreign national offenders.
The £6.5 million cost of 4,625 expedited departures
Between July 2024 and October 2025, the Labour-led administration disbursed £6.5 million through the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) to 4,625 individuals, according to the report. This results in an average payment of £1,405 per person to encourage foreign nationals convicted of crimes in the UK to return to their home countries, often before their full prison sentences are served.
The spending on the Facilitated Return Scheme has fluctuated significantly over the reported period. the highest monthly expenditure occurred in October 2025, when the government provided £590,913 to 410 individuals, while the lowest monthly disbursement was £291,277 in January.
Hadush Kebatu and the £500 incentive for a sex offender
One of the most controversial applications of the Facilitated Return Scheme involved Hadush Kebatu, a convicted sex offender. As reported by the source, the Home Office provided Kebatu with £500 to return to Ethiopia following his involvement in sexual assault cases.
Despite the financial incentive, the removal of Hadush Kebatu was not seamless. after initially agreeing to cooperate, Kebatu threatened to disrupt his own deportation, which ultimately required a five-person security team to forcibly remove him from the United Kingdom.
The £1,500 cap for custodial offenders
The Home Office utilizes a tiered payment structure for Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) who apply for these funds. Individuals currently serving custodial sentences are eligible to receive up to £1,500, while those who are not incarcerated may receive a maximum of £750.
The financial support extends beyond the convicted individual. The Facilitated Return Scheme allows for supplementary payments to be made to the dependents of convicted individuals, provided those dependents accompany the offender back to their country of origin.
The Daily Mail's legal battle for Home Office transparency
The details of these expenditures only came to light following a prolonged legal battle by the Daily Mail to secure transparency from the government. While the Facilitated Return Scheme has been operational since 2006, the Home Office now refuses to disclose these financial figures to the public.
This tension reflects a broader trend of the UK government attempting to balance the optics of paying criminals against the administrative desire for efficient removals. By offering resettlement grants, the Home Office seeks to bypass the legal gridlock that often prevents the deportation of foreign nationals.
The Home Office's claim of long-term cost savings
Supporters of the Facilitated Return Scheme argue that these payments are a pragmatic investment. According to the report, proponents claim that paying offenders to leave creates long-term cost savings by avoiding the expenses associated with prolonged imprisonment and expensive litigation.
However, several critical points remain unverified. It is currently unclear how the Home Office measures the actual "savings" against the cost of the grants, and the source does not specify if there is a mechanism to ensure these individuals do not return to the UK. furthermore, the report highlights that critics continue to question the ethics of providing cash incentives to convicted criminals, particularly sex offenders.
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