Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Home Office increased asylum decisions by resolving bottlenecks in claim processing system.
Recommendation
The Home Office told us that it has increased the number of decisions caseworkers make by focussing on “bottlenecks” in the system. It said that asylum claims requiring decisions had not been reaching caseworkers quickly enough and, when they did, the claims were not immediately ready to make decisions on. The Home Office said that removing these bottlenecks had been a “big part” of speeding up decisions.18
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, stating it has implemented fundamental changes resulting in 112,000 asylum decisions and tripled productivity by streamlining processes, and will continue to build on these for the remaining backlog of cases.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. Fundamental changes to the decision-making process and boosting efficiency has resulted in 112,000 asylum decisions this year, and the highest annual number of substantive decisions in a year since 2002. In one 4-week period from 20 November to 17 December 2023, there were 20,481 initial asylum decisions made. This is more than the number of asylum decisions made in the entirety of 2021. The Home Office has successfully tripled decision productivity. This was made possible through streamlining and modernising the end-to-end process, with improved guidance and more focussed interviews, speeding up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. Productivity will continue to fluctuate as the department works through different case types. The department will continue to build on existing processes and systems in our approach to the remaining backlog of cases, including those made on or after 28 June 2022, 'flow' cases.