Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Require Home Office to detail plans for understanding local impact of asylum policies and council issues.
Conclusion
We are concerned that the Home Office has not engaged effectively with local authorities about the impact its work is having on local areas. The Home Office is making progress in its plans to reduce its use of hotels. By the end of March, it had exited 100 hotels, with around 300 still in use. But it still could not say when it intends to stop using hotels altogether. The Home Office’s actions to reduce its reliance on hotels risk having unintended consequences such as driving up rental costs, increasing homelessness and putting unacceptable pressure on local councils. There are also substantial additional costs for local areas where the Home Office develops alternative accommodation such as large sites. West Lindsey District Council, in which the site at Scampton resides, estimates that it and its neighbouring councils have faced additional costs of nearly £0.5 million as a result of needing to employ additional staff and updating infrastructure. We are pleased to hear the Home Office is now sharing more data with local authorities about the asylum seekers in their communities and that it has put in place dedicated liaison officers. Recommendation 4: The Home Office should, within three months, write to us setting out what it will do to better understand the impact its asylum policies are having in local areas and how its liaison officers will help resolve the litany of problems raised with us by councils.
Government Response Summary
The Home Office will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and local authority leads to address issues. It is also building tools, such as a weekly Discontinuation Prediction Tool and a future Place Based Visibility Tool, to share data with local authorities for better planning and management of asylum cases.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The Home Office will establish a working group with the Local Government Association and Local Authority Chief Executive regional leads to address issues raised at the national Asylum, Resettlement Councils Senior Engagement Group. This group will identify, and address issues related to Asylum Casework and Move On from asylum accommodation. Central to Home Office plans to collaborate and work with Local Authorities (LAs) is sharing regular, timely and relevant data and Management Information to allow effective planning. We are building a number of tools to provide updates to individual Local Authorities. The Discontinuation Prediction Tool (DPT) is shared weekly with Strategic Migration Partners (SMPs) for onward sharing with LAs to provide a 4-week prediction of cases (by group size). This enables LAs to anticipate potential demand on their services and to support a smoother transition from Home Office accommodation to mainstream services. The Place Based Visibility Tool (PBVT) which shows pre-decision asylum cases specific to an area will be built and shared once plans for asylum casework are confirmed and will include Resettlement and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children/National Transfer Scheme data. The department will look to further develop LA reporting dependent on Home Office Data Infrastructure.