Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Accepted
Home Office has improved liaison with local authorities to manage asylum accommodation impacts.
Recommendation
The Home Office told us that it was not “cloth-eared” to the issues that local authorities faced, and that it included the challenges facing local authorities as part of its assessment of which hotels to close and in what order, but could not take responsibility for the whole housing market. It said it was now liaising directly with local authorities “in a way that perhaps in the early days we [the Home Office] were not”. It explained that local authorities now have a “place-based visibility tool” where they can see all the accommodation occupied.39 There are also liaison officers working with all local authorities to understand the challenges in local areas. In its written evidence the London Councils told us that progress had been made in sharing intelligence on standards of accommodation, and the National Audit Office reported that the Home Office has started to share more data with local authorities so they have greater sight of the pipeline of refugees they may need to accommodate in the future. However, both London Councils and the Local Government Association told us there still remain significant concerns, and that they were keen to work with the government to develop a more robust cross-system approach to minimise impacts on local housing and homelessness services and reduce the risks of destitution.40 34 Qq 224–227; UKR0010, Written evidence submitted by London Councils, 15 April 2024, page 4 35 C&AG’s Report. Asylum Accommodation, para 2.9 36 UKR0010, page 4 37 UKR0007, Written evidence submitted by The Local Government Association, 15 April 2024, section 3.2 38 UKR0005, Written evidence submitted by The West Lindsey District Council, City of Lincoln Council and Lincolnshire County Council, 15 April 2024 39 Q 226 40 UKR0007, section 3.2; UKR0010; C&AG’s report, Asylum accommodation para 2.9 16 Asylum Accommodation and UK-Rwanda partnership 3 Measuring success and accountability to Parliament Measuring the success of the Rwanda partnership
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, committing to establish a working group with local authorities, share regular data via existing and new tools like the Discontinuation Prediction Tool, and build and share a Place Based Visibility Tool once plans are confirmed.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 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. 4.3 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.