James Cleverley spent £165,000 on a charter plane for a one-day round trip to Rwanda.

James Cleverley arrives at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda Photo: Ben Birchall/PA

James Cleverley spent £165,561 on private rental plane for the Home Office said it was a one-day round trip to Rwanda as deportation flights to the Central African state remained suspended.

The home secretary chartered the prime minister's plane for himself, his officials and selected members of the press to fly to Rwanda to sign a new deal with the African state after the Supreme Court ruled it was an «unsafe» country for migrants.

He was traveling on an RAF Voyager aircraft to speed up the signing of a new legally binding treaty on December 4 with Vincent Biruta, Rwanda's foreign minister.

Deportation flights are currently delayed until June after the House of Lords handed the government's Rwanda Bill seven defeats, delaying its passage through parliament until Easter. Rishi Sunak has said he wants the flights to begin this spring as part of his key commitment to curbing and stopping small boats crossing the border.

Ministers have been accused of dragging their feet for five months after they stated that the Rwanda bill was an emergency law that had to be quickly considered by parliament.

The disclosure of the flight follows claims, which the Home Office has denied, that it is struggling to find a contractor to transport deported migrants to Rwanda.

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Sources, however , have confirmed that Home Office officials are in talks with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) over the potential use of RAF aircraft to transport migrants to Rwanda.

Responding to questions about the flights, a Home Office spokesman said: «We have clear operational flight plans following discussions with a number of commercial companies, and departments across Whitehall are working to ensure the first flights depart to Rwanda as soon as possible.»

Mr Cleverley's flight was revealed in a transparent document released by the Home Office. It follows criticism of the government after spending watchdogs found the cost of sending each of the first 300 asylum seekers to Rwanda would be £1.8 million.

Mr Cleverley was the third home minister cases who traveled to Rwanda. sign the agreement, following the example of their predecessors Dames Priti Patel and Suella Braverman.

The agreement signed by Mr Cleverley established a new appeals body, which will be made up of judges with asylum experience from a range of countries, to hear individual cases.

The government said Rwanda's asylum system will be overseen by an independent committee whose powers to enforce the treaty will be strengthened. The committee will develop a system to allow displaced people and their lawyers to lodge complaints.

It is understood the flight took Mr Cleverley, staff from his private office, a small group of civil servants, a photographer, a reporter and a BBC film crew to Kigali

When asked about Mr Cleverley's flight, a Home Office spokesman said: “Stopping boats is one of our top priorities. The cost of the asylum system could reach £11 billion a year by 2026 and we make no apologies for implementing bold solutions like our partnership with Rwanda to stop boats and save lives.

“All of Government costs are carefully checked to ensure optimum value for money.”