Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted in Part
Collect and publish disaggregated data on asylum claims, decisions, and outcomes by protected characteristics.
Recommendation
It is not currently possible from published official data to monitor outcomes in the asylum process for groups of people with vulnerabilities arising from Equality Act protected characteristics. Experimental statistics on sexual orientation-based claims are a good start and we welcome the Home Office’s intention to increase its collection of data on protected characteristics and UN Convention protection grounds. Data collection and transparency is the vital first step needed to ensure that inequalities in the process can be identified and addressed. We recommend the Home Office collect and publish data in relation to claims, initial decisions, appeals and final outcomes disaggregated by: UN Convention ground; whether the claim included sexual and gender-based violence and other abuse; and the protected characteristics of claimants. (Paragraph 40) Asylum decision-making
Government Response Summary
The government states it already publishes some requested data and is developing a new caseworking system (Atlas) to improve data recording capabilities. It hopes to publish further disaggregated details, such as grounds for asylum, once this new system is established, acknowledging current challenges with data format.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
In relation to the recommendation at paragraph 40, as the Committee’s report acknowledges, we publish regular statistics on certain protected characteristics for asylum seekers, including age, sex, and sexual orientation. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, considering a number of factors including user needs, availability and quality of data, and sensitivities regarding data protection. Details on other protected characteristics, such as religion, will be established during the asylum registration process. However, whilst we hold information regarding various protected characteristics of asylum claimants, and the reason for applying for asylum, this information is often held in the case notes rather than a reportable format, which presents challenges to regular statistical reporting. We recognise our responsibility to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty in considering how we can best meet the needs of people with protected characteristics. There are specific methodological challenges in collecting data about protected characteristics from non-UK nationals, but we are actively undertaking work to understand how we can best manage this. The existing caseworking system had limited the ability to provide detailed information regarding, for example, why individuals have claimed asylum and information related to gender-based harm. We are developing a new caseworking system (Atlas) for immigration data, to improve the data we are able to record. Once the new data system is established, we hope to publish further detail, for example on individuals’ grounds for applying for asylum.