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Scotland

East Lothian

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Mr Douglas Alexander
Mr Douglas AlexanderLabour (Co-op) · Lothian East

2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping East Lothian.

75 people on asylum support in East Lothian

Rank 202 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 6.44 per 10,000 puts East Lothian in the 50th percentile. That means a moderate load compared to the national picture. 3 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. Accommodation and support for 75 people at £107 per person per day is about £2.9M a year.

What asylum costs East Lothian

£1.7Mestimated hotel costs/year
£192Ksubsistence payments/year
£90KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 75 people on asylum support in East Lothian(0.08% of 93,293 nationally at 30 Jun 2026). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend in 2024/25 (House of Commons Library, CDP-2025-0184). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person.

East Lothian: asylum numbers still rising

Quarter-end stock series to Dec 2025. A rise or fall is a net change in the number of people on support at period end, not the number of new claims or distinct people moving through the caseload. Support stock also overlaps with, but is not identical to, the awaiting-decision backlog.

34
3423110Dec 2020Dec 2025Peak Dec 2025Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby Stockholm
Exact values
PeriodValue
Dec 20201
Mar 20211
Jun 20211
Sept 20211
Dec 20211
Mar 20221
Jun 20221
Sept 20221
Dec 20221
Mar 20231
Jun 20231
Sept 20233
Mar 20255
Jun 20257
Sept 202514
Dec 202534

Trend

+20Latest quarter change
+33Change across series
16Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation72
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only3
Contingency accommodation0

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
75
Homes for Ukraine
156
Afghan programme
0
Resettlement cumulative
78

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine156
Afghan programme0
Resettlement cumulative78

Population context

All pathways total231
Share of local population0.2%
Full demographic profileSchool pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.View East Lothian on UK Demographics →