Britain’s ban on asylum seekers gaining paid work has cost UK taxpayers £876 million ($A1.5 billion) over a decade, according to a new report.

Figures published by the ‘Lift the Ban’ coalition, which advocates for asylum seekers, suggest that letting asylum-seekers get jobs could have generated a significant amount of tax revenue, National Insurance contributions as well as  saving millions on support for asylum seekers.

Under the current UK policy, asylum-seekers can only work if they have been waiting 12 months for a decision and their job is listed on a highly restrictive shortage occupation list.

The vast majority are forced to live for months and even years without work on pitiful government payments of less than £6 ($A10.70) a day.

The UK Home Office has repeatedly rejected calls to change the policy, including from its own advisers on the migration advisory committee.

The ‘Lift the Ban’ figures come as a new poll found 81 per cent of the British public are in favour of giving asylum-seekers the right to work after six months.

Asylum seeker advocate and head of NGO Refugee Action Tim Naor Hilton said the figures showed a need for policy change.

“The cost of this ludicrous policy on refugees, communities, businesses and the British taxpayer is staggering,” Mr Naor Hilton said.

“As wait times for a decision on asylum claims snowball, lifting the ban would support integration and raise families out of poverty to create more prosperous communities,” he said.

The coalition is calling on UK MPs to back an amendment passed by members of the House of Lords to UK’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which would allow asylum-seekers to work after six months in Britain.

Another recent report slammed Britain’s Home Office over its inhumane and damaging treatment of people seeking safety in the UK.

The report by activist group Refugee Action claims Home Office incompetence and cruelty are having a devastating effect on asylum seekers because they face a “complex web of hostility and mistrust”.

The report cited long delays in determining applications, pointing to figures showing that an initial decision was still pending after at least six months in 14,306 cases at the end of last year.

“Our research shows the huge stress and anxiety this is causing, as people struggle to provide for their families and survive on little over £6 a day,” the report said.

“Banned from work or study, they feel hopeless, isolated and excluded,” it said.

“The Home Office is systematically failing to respect the rights of vulnerable people.

“Britain’s asylum system often does immense damage to people who come to this country to claim protection and Refugees are being forced to wait years for a decision on their asylum claim,” the report said.

The criticism follows on the heels of a huge backlash over the so-called ‘Windrush scandal’ which saw the government wrongfully attempt to deport people who came from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1971 to fill labour vacancies.