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North West

Wirral

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Matthew Patrick
Matthew PatrickLabour · Wirral West
701 people on asylum support in Wirral

Rank 35 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 21.25 per 10,000 puts Wirral in the 83rd percentile. That means this area carries more than most. 13 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 30 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 701 people at £107 per person per day is about £27.4M a year.

What asylum costs Wirral

£15.8Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.8Msubsistence payments/year
£841KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 701 people on asylum support in Wirral(0.75% 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.

Wirral: 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.

789
7895262630Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Dec 2025Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 20143
Jun 20142
Sept 20142
Dec 20144
Mar 20155
Jun 20156
Sept 20153
Dec 20153
Mar 20166
Jun 201620
Sept 201629
Dec 201634
Mar 201762
Jun 201769
Sept 201786
Dec 201795
Mar 2018108
Jun 2018125
Sept 2018130
Dec 2018139
Mar 2019167
Jun 2019166
Sept 2019185
Dec 2019202
Mar 2020221
Jun 2020232
Sept 2020228
Dec 2020221
Mar 2021192
Jun 2021218
Sept 2021220
Dec 2021307
Mar 2022291
Jun 2022327
Sept 2022344
Dec 2022487
Mar 2023494
Jun 2023713
Sept 2023727
Dec 2023698
Mar 2024763
Jun 2024741
Sept 2024774
Dec 2024755
Mar 2025734
Jun 2025717
Sept 2025756
Dec 2025789

Trend

+33Latest quarter change
+786Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation658
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only13
Contingency accommodation30

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
701
Homes for Ukraine
575
Afghan programme
76
Resettlement cumulative
155

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine575
Afghan programme76
Resettlement cumulative155

Population context

All pathways total1,352
Share of local population0.41%

Ethnic composition projection

Wirral: White British 92.4% (2021) to 81.7% (2051). 80% CI: 81.5, 84.3%.

Ethnic composition: Wirral

0255075100% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 75% in 2061White Other 5% in 2061Asian 6% in 2061Mixed 8% in 2061Other 5% in 206120112021203120412051
White BritishWhite OtherAsianMixedOther 80% CI

Each line shows one ethnic group's share of the local population. The shaded band is the 80% confidence range. Values after 2051 are illustrative only.

Ethnic composition: Wirral

Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.

2011
95%
2021
92%
2031proj
90%
2041proj
87%
2051proj
82%
2061proj
75%
8%
White BritishWhite OtherAsianBlackMixedOther
Model: Hamilton-Perry single-year CCRs, 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, SNPP-constrained

Census 2011 to 2021 cohort change ratios. Shaded band = 80% confidence interval from stochastic perturbation. Not a forecast.

Scenario explorer

Under different assumptions, White British share in Wirral ranges from72.3% to 84.5%by 2051. That is a 12.2pp spread.

Fertility
Low~108k/yr
Principal~315k/yr
High~476k/yr
ConstantRates stay at current levels
Half convergenceMove halfway to national avg
Full convergenceConverge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 77.2% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 1.1% (2021) → 2.5% (2051). Christian 58.1% → 11.1%.

Religion: Wirral

627486989%Census 2021Christian 11% in 2051No religion 84% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religion

Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.

Nativity

5.4% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: low diversity (entropy 0.21). 97.7% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Wirral

0255075100%Census 2021UK-born 79% in 2051Foreign-born 21% in 20512021203120412051
UK-bornForeign-born

Share of the local population born outside the UK. Movement reflects both new arrivals and the UK-born children of existing residents reaching adulthood.

low immigration: Limited ethnic diversity. Projections primarily driven by national trends.

Census 2021 mobility: 7.2% moved within UK, 0.4% arrived from abroad
black16.2% internal, 2.4% international
other11.2% internal, 5.6% international
white other9.2% internal, 2% international
mixed10% internal, 0.9% international
asian8.3% internal, 2.3% international
white british7% internal, 0.2% international

Why Wirral is changing

-2.5pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
-1.2pp
Local migration
+5pp

White British change 2011-2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.

Dominant driver: national trend. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).

Full demographic profileSchool pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.View Wirral on UK Demographics →