According to Home Office statistics, the backlog of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new level. At the end of June 2023, there were a total of 175,457 persons in the UK waiting for an initial decision on an asylum claim, up 44% from the end of June 2022 and the greatest number since the start of the present statistics in 2010. It indicates that the overall cost of the asylum has increased to £3.97 billion year, up from £2.12 billion in 2021–2022. The sum was £500.2 million in 2012–13. The Home Office said the "unacceptable number of people risking their lives" coming to the UK via small boats across the Channel was "placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system". The government spokesperson added: "Our priority is to stop the boats, and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers." However, the Migration Observatory found that despite an increase in the overall number of applications, only 41% of asylum seekers came by this method, down from 45% the year before. Political discussion has been "hyper-focused on small boats," according to Dr. Peter William Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, but this does not adequately represent the greater percentage of individuals who go by other means. At the end of June, 139,961 persons had been waiting more than six months for an initial asylum judgement, a record-high increase of 57% from 89,231. At the end of June 2023, the Home Office was handling 134,046 cases out of the 175,457 applicants who were awaiting an initial judgement. The number of cases being processed increased to 136,779 by the end of July 2023, although the data does not indicate how many individuals this connected to. Additionally, a two-decade high in asylum claims has been reached. In the year leading up to June 2023, about 78,768 applications were submitted; once more, one application may cover more than one individual. This is greater than the preceding twelve months by 19% and surpasses the 36,546 applications submitted during a 12-month period during the European migration crisis. Stephen Kinnock, Labour's shadow immigration minister, said: "These new statistics set out in stark terms the complete chaos the Tories have created in the immigration and asylum system. "The asylum backlog has reached a new record high, with 175,000 people now waiting for decisions. Only 1% of last year's 45,000 small boats cases have received a decision and the number of failed asylum seekers being returned is also down a whopping 70% since 2010. This is a disastrous record for the prime minister and home secretary. "With this level of mismanagement, there is very little prospect of reducing the eye-wateringly high bill for hotel rooms for all those left in limbo, currently costing the British taxpayer £6 million a day." The number of worker visas issued in the last year compared to the prior 12 months has also increased significantly. The Home Office has released fresh data that demonstrate a 63% increase in the number of persons entering the UK on work visas in the year to June 2023 compared to the year to June 2022. This means that 538,887 people entered the country to work in the previous year. 657,208 study visas have been issued, a 34% increase. Both of these numbers include dependents who were also admitted to the UK under the schemes in addition to the primary visa holder.