Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
We received written evidence from stakeholders representing asylum seekers who told us that they needed...
Recommendation
We received written evidence from stakeholders representing asylum seekers who told us that they needed information on the contracts’ performance to help them better support people. The Refugee Council told us that they needed greater transparency over service standards and performance management to give them confidence that the Department had effective mechanisms in place.31 Asylum Matters told us that the Department does not share information with local stakeholders such as regional Strategic Migration Partnerships, making meaningful scrutiny of the contracts impossible.32 We asked why the Department was not publishing data to meet the Cabinet Office’s ‘outsourcing playbook’, which states that departments should publish key performance information for any significant outsourced contract. The Department said that it would be publishing information in line with this guidance later in October.33 25 Qq 104–106 26 Qq 98–99 27 C&AG’s Report, para 2.9 28 Qq 100–101 29 Committee of Public Accounts. Windrush generation and the Home Office, HC 1518, 6 March 2019 30 Q 115 31 ASY0003 - British Refugee Council 32 ASY0006 - Asylum Matters 33 Q 107 Asylum accommodation and support transformation programme 13 2 Asylum seekers’ experiences The use of hotels
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5.2 The department agrees that stakeholders should have greater transparency on the performance of the service and has been making progress on providing that transparency. Working within Cabinet Office guidance and commercial confidentiality, summary performance data is being shared. The department has also worked with stakeholders to identify the information that would be most helpful to share. The assurance team has been developing multiple sources of insight into service performance, including the customer experience surveys carried out by each provider which came into operation in October 2020 and will report quarterly, analysis of the rich data available from the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) provider, and data from oversight of the new complaints service. A customer insight dashboard is also being developed which will capture the findings and will be shared with stakeholders. The department has also been working closely with local authorities though the Home Office Local Government Chief Executives Group (HOLGCEX) to define and deliver the further data sharing that is useful to support the functions of local authorities.