Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Home Office historically failed to adequately engage local stakeholders on asylum accommodation issues.
Conclusion
In our 2020 report Asylum accommodation and support transformation programme, we found that the Home Office had not adequately engaged with local stakeholders on asylum accommodation.60 In response to that report, the Home Office told us that it had taken steps to improve its engagement work.61
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to improve engagement with local stakeholders, committing to running pilots of a Place-Based Approach (Jan-Mar 2024), refreshing Full Dispersal plans from 2024, and continuing data sharing and collaborative governance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: iterative to December 2025 4.2 Through informal consultation, partners told the department that they wanted to build on the Full Dispersal model and adopt a Place-Based Approach to all protection-based immigration demands in an area; there is a desire to build sustainable partnerships, based on a collective responsibility, trust and support. We will be running pilots between January and March 2024 with London, Wales and South West England to test initial design principles for a revised approach. 4.3 The government has endeavoured to improve working relationships with local authorities, through data sharing, including populations for asylum, resettlement, and Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children by region and LA. The department has further shared decision service data for Streamlined Asylum Process cases by local authority with the next iteration due to be shared via a new automated visibility tool in Winter 2023-24. Moreover, individual discussions have taken place between the department and those local authorities most impacted by Streamlined Asylum Processing and case clearance this year, to discuss local authority handling proposals that will reduce impacts. The department continues to follow the same collaborative approach used for engagement for the Full Dispersal project, including launching informal consultations, and working collaboratively through its Regional governance boards, where data is shared, and decisions are taken collectively. Finally, the department will utilise existing well-established governance in place through the Asylum, Resettlement Councils Senior Engagement Group, Oversight Group and regional governance boards, which is the active space for collaboration. 4.4 Based on the feedback the department has had over the past year from local authorities, it intends to refresh the Full Dispersal plans from 2024 ensuring they are evidence based and deliverable. It will be factoring in a range of matters including housing market, social pressures and existing populations. It is also exploring the possibility of broadening the plans out to include contingency accommodation.