Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by the
Prime Minister on Illegal Immigration on 13 December 2022 (HC Deb
cols 885–8), what steps they plan to take, if any, against those
local authorities that do not take their fair share of asylum
seekers in the private rental sector.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, all local authority areas in England, Scotland and
Wales became asylum dispersal areas in April 2022, ensuring that
pressures are equitably shared across the United Kingdom. All
local authorities and strategic migration partnerships have
submitted plans indicating intent to participate. Where local
authorities are not delivering on plans, accommodation providers
will be instructed to procure outside the plans and
recommendations. We remain hopeful, however, that, through
co-operation, co-production and co-design, alignment can be
reached.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for his Answer. However, some local
authorities take more than their fair share of asylum seekers. My
question is simply: can they expect some kind of financial reward
for that? Some take more than others.
(Con)
Certainly, when a refugee is assigned to a local authority area,
there is a payment to the local authority in relation to that
person to defray the costs of the accommodation for that
individual.
(Con)
My Lords, the Question was about local authorities that do not
take their fair share. Will my noble friend the Minister
enlighten the House on whether he or his department are aware of
any local authorities that have refused to take their fair share
of asylum seekers?
(Con)
Since April 2022, when the policy was changed, the department has
not noticed that any particular authorities have been backward in
coming forward in relation to assisting the department in this
regard.
(Lab)
In view of the recent report on PoliticsHome of an asylum-seeking
family left in mould-ridden accommodation, and the claim of a
local charity that the standard of Home Office asylum-seeker
accommodation is often “squalid and unsanitary”, what steps are
the Government taking to ensure that all such accommodation meets
basic standards of decency?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Obviously, asylum
seekers who would otherwise be destitute can obtain support,
including accommodation, under Section 95 of the Immigration and
Asylum Act 1999. There is a requirement under Section 96 of that
Act that such accommodation should be adequate to the needs of
the supported person and their dependants. The courts held in the
case of AMA v the Secretary of State last year that a hotel room
met the threshold of adequacy, despite the nature of the
accommodation being far from ideal. Clearly, it is important that
all accommodation provided is adequate and meets the needs of
those within it. The department is responsive to complaints of
inadequate accommodation; it is a priority for the department to
ensure that accommodation is appropriately delivered to those who
need it.
(Con)
My Lords, perhaps I might raise a point that I have raised before
with my noble friend. Have serious discussions been entered into
with our French friends and neighbours to try to ensure that
adequate, sanitary—not luxurious—accommodation is built to a
considerable extent on the other side of the channel, and that
British officials can process applications there?
(Con)
Clearly, the arrangements made for asylum seekers within the
French Republic are a matter for the French Government. I
understand that arrangements are made in accordance with their
obligations under the refugee convention. There is no express
intention by the French Government to ask us to assist with their
discharge of those duties.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister said in response to an earlier question
that accommodation should be adequate and of a reasonable quality
for asylum seekers. Yet we know, from report after report, that
that is not the case. Asylum seekers are being housed in very
low-quality housing. Three was a report in Inside Housing only
last week that described a mother from Nigeria in one-room
accommodation with no lock on the door. These are vulnerable
people. Asylum accommodation was privatised in 2012. Will the
Government change that, so that public sector providers can
provide adequate and good accommodation?
(Con)
Clearly, the coalition policy to allow private providers of
accommodation to perform that service is working well, and the
Government have no intention of revising that policy.
(Lab)
My Lords, at the end of last year, the Prime Minister pledged
more staff to clear the asylum backlog, when it emerged that the
Home Office had failed to process 98% of channel crossing cases
in the last 12 months. Can the Minister confirm whether
recruitment has begun?
(Con)
Clearly, there was such a commitment. I do not wish to reveal any
great secrets, but it is a very high priority for the department
and I anticipate that good news will be making its way to this
House shortly.
(Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for outlining that
distribution is now across all local authority areas. However,
for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, it is not just a
question of accommodation; there are other support services that
they need. So could he confirm whether unaccompanied
asylum-seeking children are covered in this national distribution
plan?
(Con)
Clearly, different provisions apply in relation to unaccompanied
asylum-seeking children, and particular care is taken. Obviously,
once a child is allocated to a local authority, the obligations
of looking after the child become those of the authority.
Clearly, these children are provided with everything that an
unaccompanied child would need.
(Lab)
My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister may come to regret his
statement that all is working well with accommodation for asylum
seekers and refugees. Too many of the stories, even around Afghan
and Ukrainian refugees, give us shame: there are people on the
streets, and people in totally inadequate accommodation, with
their children not able to access school and now requiring mental
health treatment. Much of this is because of the poor quality of
the accommodation that is available to them. I do not know what
the word is—perhaps “compassion”. A little more compassion, and
being more in touch with reality, would mean that, at the end of
the day, we at least gave human conditions to the humans who want
to come and live here.
(Con)
I disagree with the noble Baroness that there is any want of
compassion. Clearly, the asylum system in this country is
struggling with very large numbers of people who have come here.
We presently have 107,700 people in asylum support, and 50,800 of
them are currently awaiting dispersal and are housed in initial
and contingency accommodation. That includes some 373 hotels, and
some of them are of a very high standard. I simply do not accept
the characterisation that the noble Baroness suggested.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister says that he is not aware of any local
authority that has failed in its duty to provide accommodation.
Will he produce a league table with all the local authorities, so
that this House and everyone outside it can understand what the
real position is, rather than what the Minister claims?
(Con)
I will consider that proposition, take it back to the department
and write to the noble Lord.
(LD)
My Lords, do the Government recognise the connection between this
issue and the points raised by the Question asked by the noble
Lord, ? There is a shortage
of private rental accommodation, and that goes back to the
shortage of housing. The two need to be thought about together,
and steps taken that many noble Lords are suggesting.
(Con)
The noble Baroness is of course correct.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister’s response to my noble friend’s question
did not actually mention mould. He mentioned adequacy and quoted
the law. However, does he accept—and will he say from the
Dispatch Box—that it would never be acceptable for any asylum
seeker to be housed in any accommodation in which there was black
mould growing, particularly in the light of what we learned
recently about the death of a young child in such
accommodation?
(Con)
Clearly, the adequacy of accommodation is clearly a matter of
fact and assessment for each accommodation—so that is the answer
I give to that question.
