Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Conclusion 16
Fourth Report - Equality and the UK asylum process
Published 27 Jun 2023
Paragraph 119
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Equality and the UK asylum process All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Substandard conditions in asylum accommodation are unacceptable. No one should have to endure unsanitary conditions, particularly people who are vulnerable. The slow claim determination process means people can be stuck in poor accommodation for excessive periods leading to and exacerbating adverse effects on people’s physical and mental health. Concerns over the standard of asylum accommodation have been raised repeatedly over many years. It is disappointing that the latest round of contracts to provide such accommodation appear to have yielded little improvement. It is also concerning that the Government is now planning to exempt those properties from basic safety requirements.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, Fourth Report - Equality and the UK asylum process (HC 93), paragraph 119, 27 June 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 September 2023 (deadline 27 August 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out its position recommendation by recommendation, accepting few of the Committee's calls for change and relying on existing policy, safeguards and reviews.
- On the Country Policy and Information Team, it considers that CPIT "can maintain and update high quality CPINs in a timely manner" and that "a discrete review of its performance is not necessary".
- On the 2019-20 internal review of sexual orientation and gender identity claims, it states: "we will not be publishing the main findings of the internal review".
- On asylum support, it does not consider that aligning payments with a proportion of Universal Credit "is appropriate". It reports an interim rise from £45 to £47.39 per week from 17 July, and says this year's review "is due to conclude later this year".
- On legal aid, it does "not accept the Committee's suggestion that there is insufficient access to legal advice and representation". It says the Ministry of Justice is undertaking a Review of Civil Legal Aid that will consider immigration.