Recommendation 6

The Department has failed to ensure the safety and security of some of the vulnerable people who use asylum accommodation and support services. We are concerned that the Department focuses on processes, such as awarding contracts on time, at the detriment of the needs and experiences of asylum seekers. While the Department is aware that far-right organisations have been protesting outside some hotels, it does not track these incidents or engage the police on a national level. There have been 29 asylum seekers in hotels with positive tests for COVID-19. There were also 47 people with positive tests in the Stone Road initial accommodation hostel in Birmingham, who were moved to accommodation and hotels in other locations. The Department’s accommodation contract with providers does not have a key performance indicator for safeguarding asylum seekers and the Department still developing a framework for monitoring and assuring itself that providers meet their contractual requirements on safeguarding. The Department has committed to working with its partners, such as local authorities, to ensure they understand this framework. 1 The Home Office has now published key KPI data for these contracts, available at https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/key-performance-indicators-kpis-for-governments-most-important-contracts#history – see the spreadsheet ‘Data for April to June 2020’, select HO contracts and lines 172–179 show the AASC and AIRE KPI data. 8 Asylum accommodation and support transformation programme Recommendation: The Department should, within three months, publish its safeguarding assurance framework, specifying: • when it will be implemented and how it will operate; • how it will focus on the experience of service users; and • how partners will feed in their concerns and experiences. Asylum accommodation and support transformation programme 9 1 The Department’s oversight