LONDON

Families of failed asylum seekers could be offered up to £40,000 ($55,000) to leave the UK under a new pilot scheme announced Thursday by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

The families would be offered “incentive payments” of up to £10,000 per person, capped at four people per household.

Mahmood said the government would seek to forcibly remove those who refuse the offer within seven days.

The scheme is expected to target 150 families living in taxpayer-funded asylum accommodation.

She announced the plan during a speech to a left-leaning think tank, where she sought to make what she described as the “Labour case” for restricting support to some asylum seekers.

The government operates a voluntary returns program offering up to £3,000 in financial support to eligible asylum seekers who choose to leave the UK.

Mahmood said the cost of housing a family of three in asylum accommodation can reach £158,000 per year.

The home secretary said the government wanted to offer an “increased incentive payment” that would represent a “significant saving to the taxpayer,” echoing similar reforms introduced in Denmark.

She also said the government was consulting on how to remove families with children who refuse to leave voluntarily “in a way that is humane and effective.”

“For too long, families who have failed their claims have known that we are not enforcing our rules, which created a perverse incentive to make a Channel crossing with children in a small boat,” said Mahmood.