Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 93
Asylum initial decisions are too slow, often wrong, and subject to tribunal delays.
Conclusion
In order to fulfil the Prime Minister’s pledge to clear a substantial part of the backlog of asylum cases this year, the Home Office will need many more highly-trained decision-makers making initial decisions faster. Data on decision-making rates and appeal outcomes show initial decisions are far too slow and too often wrong. Evidence also shows delays in the Home Office engaging with the Tribunals and actioning its decisions.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response describes existing specialised training modules for asylum decision-makers and past collaboration with experts, stating it will seek to do so in any future review. It does not address the committee's concerns about the need for more highly-trained decision-makers, the slowness or wrongness of initial decisions, or delays in engaging with Tribunals.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
93
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
The Home Office must establish a new programme of training for Home Office decision- makers and presenting officers particularly on matters concerning gender, sexual orientation and gender identity-based asylum claims. Training should be delivered by independent expert stakeholders, drawing on lived experiences of refugees. The Home Office must also improve the timeliness of its actions once notice of an appeal has been served and when an outcome is known. It is simply unacceptable, as well as unnecessarily costly for the taxpayer, for successful appellants to then have to wait months for their leave to be granted.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗