Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Paragraph: 68
Following the National Audit Office’s report that asylum seekers are now expected to remain in...
Conclusion
Following the National Audit Office’s report that asylum seekers are now expected to remain in initial accommodation for up to five weeks, with many staying for nearly three months, the Home Office must urgently reconsider the provision of medical services, subsistence payments and children’s educational support in initial accommodation. We appreciate the reasons for the current lengthy stays in IA as a result of lockdown and delays in being able to move people on. However, we are very concerned that so little progress had been made before lockdown in addressing the 56 Home Office preparedness for COVID-19 (Coronavirus): institutional accommodation shortfall of dispersal accommodation, making it harder to respond to Covid-19. It is vital that swift progress is made now in advance of any second wave this winter.
Paragraph Reference:
68
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We are clear that the extended use of Initial Accommodation and hotels is not a long- term solution and our providers are working to move people into more suitable Dispersed Accommodation as quickly as it is available. The Home Office monitors the length of stay in initial accommodation closely. As the National Audit Office’s report notes, in normal operation most service users are housed in Initial Accommodation for only a short period of generally less than a few weeks, although there are a number of reasons why a minority stay longer. We have set clear priorities for service user moves on to Dispersal Accommodation, so that pregnant women, families with children, and other vulnerable service users are being given priority. Moves are taking place as far as appropriate in date order within these groups so that those who have been waiting longest will be moving first. We believe this is the most appropriate way to balance overall service user need against accommodation as it becomes available. Additionally, we have processes in place for considering exceptional cases where an urgent move may be needed and, where that is agreed on a case by case basis, accommodation providers are instructed to affect those moves within appropriate timescales. Home Office preparedness for COVID-19 (coronavirus): institutional accommodation: 7 Since COVID-19, the ability of providers to procure new dispersal accommodation and to move people within the estate has been significantly restricted as a result of disruption in the wider housing sector and public health requirements. Given the scale of these impacts, the level of dispersal accommodation now required can only be achieved with the support and input of our stakeholders to a collective approach to widen dispersal and assisting those who are no longer eligible to ‘move-on’ from asylum accommodation. We have invited local authorities, through the Home Office - Local Government Chief Executive Group (HOLGCEX), to share their plans on these aims and how best they can collaborate with us to participate in dispersal and support the level of procurement required to reduce use of contingency accommodation in their areas.