Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps, if any, they will
take to mitigate the prevalence of homelessness among refugees,
and its impact on local authorities, over the Christmas period.
(LD)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper and declare my interest as a vice-president of the Local
Government Association.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, in line with the practice every year, individuals who
have received a decision on their asylum claim will not be moved
out of asylum accommodation over the Christmas period. For this
year, the dates are 23 December to 2 January inclusive.
(LD)
I thank the noble Lord for that Answer. My concern was with
recent Home Office data showing that around 90,000 outstanding
decisions on older cases are forecast to be made before the end
of December. Quite clearly, that would have a significant impact
on certain councils, so will he please inform me, either now or
in writing, what has happened in respect of that cohort? Does he
agree that, with the demand for temporary accommodation at an
all-time high, any increases are likely to overload the system
and increase street homelessness? Will the Government consider
increasing the notice time given to people in hotels from 28 days
to 56 days, as in the Homelessness Reduction Act? Will there be a
cessation over the Christmas period and in the colder weather so
that plans can be put in place with the councils that are most
impacted by this? Asylum distribution among councils is not
equal; some councils are severely impacted.
(Con)
The noble Baroness has asked me a number of questions. The Prime
Minister committed in December 2022 to clear the historical
asylum backlog by the end of this year. Those are the legacy
cases, and provisional data to the end of November 2023 suggest
that 80% of them have already been dealt with. It is nowhere near
the figure that the noble Baroness suggested. I will write. I am
reluctant to give provisional figures for obvious reasons—they
still need to be verified.
On extending the 28-day move-on period, the asylum accommodation
estate is under huge strain, as the House is well aware, so
increasing the move-on period would exacerbate those pressures.
There are currently no plans to extend the prescribed period of
28 days for how long individuals remain on asylum support once
they have received the grant of asylum. We are engaging with the
Department for Work and Pensions and DLUHC on ensuring
individuals can move on from asylum support as smoothly as
possible.
(CB)
My Lords, what are the Government doing about the increasing
antagonism between UK people who are homeless and people who are
refugees? We need to address this, because we do not want the
outbreak of racism and all those other chauvinisms that are
happening down at the bottom end of society.
(Con)
I agree with the noble Lord; we absolutely do not want those. The
Government work closely with police forces and other agencies to
ensure that sort of thing does not happen.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister talked about a period over the Christmas
holidays when refugees would not be thrown out on the streets.
How many are going to be thrown out on the streets when that
period is over?
(Con)
My Lords, obviously, I cannot predict what that number will be,
as those asylum cases are still being processed.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who will be hosting a
Ukrainian family for consecutive Christmases in our family home
with my wife, and they are very welcome. It does, however, raise
a medium-term problem: like many Ukrainian families, they came
here on a three-year visa, and after 20 months, they are
understandably thinking about what comes next. Our Ukrainians are
happily settled here, working and contributing to the economy,
and, if I am honest, probably do not want to go home, like many.
President Zelensky desperately wants them to go home and
contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. What will the
approach of the Government to them be as they come towards the
end of their three-year visa?
(Con)
I commend my noble friend for his generosity in hosting the
Ukrainian family and I associate myself with the remarks on how
they are needed back in Ukraine—they will be needed when the
reconstruction efforts in that country commence. Regarding what
the Government are planning for the Ukrainian visa system, I do
not have that information to hand but will come back to the House
as and when it is available.
My Lords, given what has already been said about the inadequate
notice period, can the Minister give an assurance that no notice
to vacate will be implemented when a severe weather emergency
protocol has been announced?
(Con)
I would take slight issue with the right reverend Prelate on
whether the notice period is inadequate. I think that 28 days is
more than enough, and there is huge pressure on our asylum
system. As the House will be aware given that we talked about it
the other day, the asylum and immigration system is costing this
country £4 billion a year. However, ministerial agreement has
been given to pause evictions for up to three days when a local
authority has activated its severe weather emergency protocol due
to poor weather conditions. This reduces the risks to life and
enables the individual and/or local authority to find alternative
accommodation arrangements.
(LD)
My Lords, the biometric residence permit gives successful asylum
claimants access to public services, including, crucially, access
to cash and funding for housing. What progress has the department
made in bringing the notice to vacate closer to the time when it
provides the permit? Bringing those closer together would give
people the full time available to them to find appropriate
housing because they would have the cash available. Without it,
they cannot find the cash. I know the Government intended to make
progress on this; what progress has been made in bringing those
two dates together?
(Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right. The move-on period is
linked to when a biometric residence permit is issued and
received because, as he points out, individuals generally require
that BRP to access mainstream support—benefits, local authority
housing, right to rent, bank accounts and so on. They are
linked.
(Lab)
My Lords, during the Covid crisis, a lot of homes were made
available for homeless people. Why have the Government let that
slip and gone backwards rather than forwards?
(Con)
My Lords, Covid presented a very different set of challenges to
those we face today. We are attempting to relieve the pressure on
the enormously overburdened hotels, and all the rest of it, that
are costing this country £8 million a day and £4 billion a
year.
(LD)
My Lords, following on from my noble friend’s question, the
Minister is correct that the Government are trying to align the
permit period but, once a permit is received, it takes at least
another five weeks before universal credit and housing benefit
applications can be dealt with. Will the Minister go back to the
department and look at the broader picture to align the two
timescales so that people are not made homeless because they
cannot claim those benefits?
(Con)
I will take that up with DWP colleagues, as it sounds very much
like it is for their department. I cannot answer the
question.
(Lab)
My Lords, in the spirit of Christmas, will the Minister reflect
on his answer to the right reverend Prelate that 28 days is “more
than enough” for a recognised refugee about to be evicted, whose
knowledge of English may be minimal, who may have children and
who might have suffered trauma back home?
(Con)
Yes, I think so, because the refugee will have been processed
under a legacy asylum case and will therefore have been in that
accommodation for a very long time—over a year. They would have
had ample time to learn English and embed themselves to some
extent into British society. An extra month is perfectly
generous.
(Lab)
My Lords, some of those in Home Office asylum care will be under
18. How confident is the Minister that none of those under-18s
will ever be made homeless and that they will find their way into
some form of social care provided by local authorities?
(Con)
Obviously, there have been a number of recent examples where
things have gone wrong, but I am as confident as I can be that
they have now been fixed. As has been said many times from this
Dispatch Box, we are working carefully and closely with the local
authorities concerned.
(LD)
My Lords, this morning, I had the privilege of attending a
fundraising effort by voluntary organisations, which help so
much, especially at this time of year, with refugee problems.
What acknowledgement do we give those many voluntary
organisations and all the people involved for all the effort they
give at this time of year to make refugees feel at home and able
to enjoy Christmas?
(Con)
The noble Lord raises a very good point. I am happy to add my
congratulations, thanks and general appreciation to all those
organisations involved in charitable activities of whatever sort
at this time of year.
