BRIEFING PAPER
Number 1909, 14 October 2015
'Asylum support':
accommodation and
financial support for
asylum seekers
By Melanie Gower
Inside:
1. Dealing with asylum support
casework: Some useful
sources
2. Entitlements whilst waiting
for an asylum decision
3. Entitlements if asylum is
granted
4. Entitlements if asylum is
refused
5. Rights of appeal if asylum
support is refused or
withdrawn
6. Government proposals to
change asylum support
entitlements
7. Further reading: Recent
parliamentary interest,
reports, etc.
www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary
Number 1909, 14 October 2015
Contents
Summary
3
1.
Dealing with asylum support casework: Some useful sources
4
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Entitlements whilst waiting for an asylum decision
Accommodation and financial support
The new asylum support rates from 10 August 2015
Exceptions to eligibility for asylum support
Other entitlements
Employment restrictions
5
5
7
10
10
11
3.
Entitlements if asylum is granted
12
4.
4.1
4.2
4.3
Entitlements if asylum is refused
Section 4 support if there is a temporary barrier to departure
Section 95 support for households with children under 18
Support from local authorities
13
13
14
15
5.
Rights of appeal if asylum support is refused or withdrawn
16
6.
6.1
6.2
Government proposals to change asylum support entitlements
Devolving asylum support powers to Scotland
Immigration Bill 2015 – 16
17
17
18
7.
Further reading: Recent parliamentary interest, reports, etc.
19
Cover page image copyright: DSC_6742 by Philippa Willitts. Licensed under CC BY
2.0 / image cropped.
2
3
'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
Summary
At a glance
Destitute asylum seekers can apply to UK Visas & Immigration for financial and/or
accommodation support until they receive a final decision on their asylum claim (‘asylum
support’).
Accommodation is provided on a no-choice basis, generally away from London and the southeast of the UK.
A new standard rate of asylum cash support (£36.95 per person per week) took effect from
10 August 2015. This is a substantial reduction in support for single parents and families with
children.
Asylum support is terminated once a final decision has been made on an asylum application
(i.e. when there are no further appeal rights). Asylum seekers granted permission to remain in
the UK become eligible to work and access mainstream welfare benefits. Refused asylum
seekers are expected to leave the UK. They have few support options, although some may be
eligible for a more limited form of cashless support (known as ‘section 4 support’) if the Home
Office accepts that there are temporary barriers to their departure. The Immigration Bill 201516 proposes replacing section 4 support with a new category of support for refused asylum
seekers who face a “genuine obstacle” to leaving the UK. It also proposes significant new
restrictions on refused families’ ongoing eligibility for asylum support.
Asylum seekers are not eligible for mainstream welfare benefits. Instead, if they are
destitute, they can apply to UK Visas and Immigration for accommodation and/or financial
support (‘asylum support’). As a general rule, asylum seekers are not allowed to work
whilst they are waiting for an asylum decision.
Accommodation is provided on a no-choice basis, generally outside London and the
south-east of the UK, under the longstanding ‘dispersal’ policy.
In previous years asylum support rates have varied according to the claimants’ ages and
household compositions. Since 10 August 2015 a new standard rate has applied to all
adults and children, resulting households with children receiving a lower amount of
support than before. The Government says that they can make use of economies of scale.
Asylum support is terminated once a final decision has been made on an asylum
application (i.e. when there are no further appeal rights). Asylum seekers granted
permission to remain in the UK become eligible to work and access mainstream welfare
benefits. Refused asylum seekers are expected to leave the UK. They have few support
options, although some may be eligible for a more limited form of cashless support
(known as ‘section 4 support’) if the Home Office accepts that there are temporary
barriers to their departure. The Immigration Bill 2015-16 would make changes to this.
Local authorities are responsible for support to unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
They have very limited duties to support destitute adults subject to immigration control
who have care needs.
This note provides a brief summary of the asylum support arrangements and recent
scrutiny reports. Other Library briefings on asylum, including those on Viral emails
protesting about financial assistance for “illegal immigrants/refugees living in Britain” and
People from abroad: what benefits can they claim? might be of interest.
Number 1909, 14 October 2015
1. Dealing with asylum support
casework: Some useful sources
•
•
•
•
•
The Asylum support section on the GOV.UK website includes a
summary of asylum seekers’ entitlements, including financial and
accommodation support, the eligibility criteria, and how to apply
or appeal against a refusal of support.
Migrant Help is a registered charity funded by the Home Office to
provide national asylum advice services to adult asylum seekers.
The Asylum Help section on Migrant Help’s website includes
information about the asylum support system, multilingual
information and guidance for asylum seekers, and details of how
they can access Asylum Help’s services. The contact details for
Asylum Help’s Asylum Support Application UK helpline for asylum
seekers are also listed on the Asylum Helplines page on GOV.UK.
Home Office operational policy guidance for its officials about
issues related to asylum support can be found in the Home
Office’s collection of Asylum Support (Asylum Instructions) policy
guidance documents, available from GOV.UK.
Library standard note Constituency casework: immigration,
nationality and asylum includes details of the Home Office’s
dedicated MPs’ correspondence channels which can be used by
MPs to make representations or enquiries about individual cases,
as well as details of other asylum charities and sources of advice.
The Immigration statistics quarterly release tables, available from
GOV.UK, include information about applications for section 95
and section 4 asylum support.
4
5
'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
2. Entitlements whilst waiting for
an asylum decision
2.1 Accommodation and financial support
Asylum seekers are not eligible for mainstream welfare benefits.
Instead, under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (‘the
1999 Act’), destitute individuals who submit an asylum application “as
soon as reasonably practicable” after arriving in the UK can apply for
accommodation and/or financial support from UK Visas and
Immigration (UKVI, a Home Office directorate) whilst their claim is being
decided. 1
Asylum seekers are
not eligible for
mainstream welfare
benefits
Section 95(3) of the 1999 Act defines destitution:
For the purposes of this section, a person is destitute if—
(a) he does not have adequate accommodation or any means of
obtaining it (whether or not his other essential living needs are
met); or
(b) he has adequate accommodation or the means of obtaining it,
but cannot meet his other essential living needs.
In order to be able to satisfy the ‘destitution test’, initial applicants must
not have adequate accommodation or money to meet their expenses
within the next fortnight. 2
The Immigration statistics quarterly release tables, available from
GOV.UK, include information about applications for asylum support:
At the end of March 2015, 30,476 asylum seekers and their
dependants were being supported under Section 95. This figure
has increased each quarter since the end of September 2012, but
is still considerably below the figure for the end of 2003 (the start
of the published data series), when there were 80,123 asylum
seekers in receipt of Section 95.
Around 30,000
asylum seekers and
dependants were
receiving asylum
support whilst their
asylum claims were
being processed, as
at March 2015
Provision of accommodation: the dispersal policy
Accommodation is provided to asylum seekers by private providers
contracted to provide the services on behalf of the Home Office.
Accommodation is offered on a no-choice basis, generally in areas
outside of London and the south-east, in accordance with the
longstanding ‘dispersal’ policy. A 2014 National Audit Office report
summarises the process:
Dispersal of asylum seekers
1.4 The Department first places eligible asylum seekers in hostelstyle accommodation (known as ‘initial accommodation’) on a
short-term basis while they make an application for financial
assistance to the Department. Most asylum seekers make their
initial claim at the asylum screening unit in Croydon, although the
Department’s policy is not to provide accommodation in London
1
2
Whilst waiting for a decision on the support application, temporary full-board or
self-catering accommodation can be provided under section 98 of the 1999 Act.
Asylum Support Regulations 2000, SI 2000/704 (as amended)
Accommodation is
offered on a nochoice basis,
generally outside of
London and the
south-east
Number 1909, 14 October 2015
6
unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as, ongoing
medical needs. Instead, the Department allocates asylum seekers
to one of the six COMPASS regions, and the relevant
accommodation provider transports asylum seekers to initial
accommodation within this region.
1.5 The provider arranges to move asylum seekers to more
permanent dispersal accommodation once the Department has
assessed and confirmed their eligibility for support. Figure 1 shows
the process in more detail. Providers must propose a property to
the Department within five days, and should normally complete
the dispersal process within nine days. Dispersal accommodation
is typically a flat or shared house in which the asylum seeker is
provided with bedding and basic kitchen equipment as well as
basic furniture and access to cooking and washing facilities. The
type of property asylum seekers are allocated depends on a
number of factors, such as whether they have children living with
them. 3
It goes on to discuss the role of local authorities:
Restrictions on dispersal
1.6 Dispersal accommodation is located in particular areas in the
community where the local authority has agreed to take asylum
seekers up to a defined cluster limit (defined as an assumption
that there will be no more than one asylum seeker per 200
residents, based on the 2001 census figures for population). In
some areas local authorities have agreed a variation to this
arrangement with the Department. Not all local authorities
currently participate. Dispersal arrangements are subject to
ongoing monitoring and review by the Department.
1.7 Under the terms of the COMPASS contracts, contractors are
required to consider a range of social cohesion, housing and
community factors alongside cost when proposing properties to
be used for dispersal accommodation for asylum seekers. These
factors include:
•
the availability and concentration of accommodation;
•
the capacity of local health, education and other support
services; and
•
the level of risk of increased social tension if the number of
asylum seekers increases within a given area.
These factors are monitored by local authorities, who have the
right to withdraw existing consent for specific properties to be
used for asylum seeker accommodation or reject new proposals if
there are any specific concerns, for example around community
cohesion. 4
Provision of cash support
Financial support is provided in cash, collected weekly from Post Offices
using the ‘Application Registration Card’ (‘ARC card’) which is issued to
asylum seekers early in the asylum process as confirmation of their
identity and immigration conditions.
3
4
National Audit Office, COMPASS contracts for the provision of accommodation for
asylum seekers, HC 880 2013-14
National Audit Office, COMPASS contracts for the provision of accommodation for
asylum seekers, HC 880 2013-14
Financial support is
provided in cash,
collected weekly from
Post Offices
7
'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
The Asylum Support Regulations 2000 (as amended) provide for the
amounts of cash to be paid to destitute asylum seekers and their
dependants. 5
The asylum support system was originally modelled on the Income
Support structure, which provides for different benefit rates depending
on the applicant’s age. However over the years the link with Income
Support has gradually broken. For example, the higher asylum support
rate for over 25s was abolished in 2009. 6
During passage of what became the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,
the then government stated an intention “to make regular annual
reviews of the level at which support is to be provided to asylum
seekers”. 7 Successive governments have tended to conduct annual
internal reviews of rates and uprate them in line with inflation through
regulations, but there is no statutory obligation to do so.
Asylum seekers must sign an ‘asylum support agreement’ document
signalling their acceptance of the terms and conditions attached to the
support. Support may be stopped if they do not keep to the conditions. 8
The new asylum support rates from 10 August 2015
Controversial changes to asylum support rates are due to take effect on
10 August.
The changes will introduce a single weekly rate of asylum support
(£36.95 per adult or child). This is a significant change for certain
categories of asylum seeker. Previously, asylum support has been paid at
different rates, depending on the claimants’ ages and household
compositions. It is already the case that asylum support is paid to
eligible refused asylum seekers at a flat rate (£35.39 per week).
The new standard rate is the same as the amount currently paid to
single adult asylum seekers. But it represents a substantial reduction in
support for single parents and families with children. For example, the
weekly asylum support rate for children under 16 is currently £52.96.
The Home Office has prepared a table illustrating the impact of the
changes on certain households:
Single
Parent +1
Child
Single Parent
+2 Children
Couple + 1
child
6
7
8
Single parents and
households with
children will be most
affected by the new
rate
Couple + 2
children
Current payment
£96.90
£149.86
£125.48
178.44
New Payment
£73.90
£110.85
£110.85
£147.80
As in previous years, extra payments will be paid to pregnant women
and children under three for healthy food. A one-off maternity
5
From August 2015,
weekly asylum
support will be
£36.95 per person
(adult or child)
Asylum Support Regulations 2000, SI 2000/704 (as amended), regulation 10
Asylum Support (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/1388 (Explanatory
Memorandum, para 7.4)
HL Deb 20 October 1999 c1164
Asylum Support Regulations 2000, SI 200/704 (as amended), regulation 20
Number 1909, 14 October 2015
8
payment will remain available to women due to give birth within eight
weeks or who have a baby under six weeks old. 9
Why are the changes being made?
The changes reflect the outcome of an internal Home Office review.
This concluded that families were receiving more cash support to meet
their essential living needs than they need, because the existing rates do
not reflect the possibility of economies of scale within households.
The Explanatory Memorandum to the regulations briefly summaries how
the review was carried out:
7.4 The review conducted earlier this year considered the impact
of these payment levels on family households. The review was
conducted using a methodology developed in 2014 to take
account of the findings by the High Court following a judicial
review of the way a previous review had been conducted.
7.5 The general approach was to identify all essential needs (for
example the need to eat healthily) and assess the amount of
money required to meet the particular need. The assessment used
various sources of information, including data published by the
Office for National Statistics relating to household expenditure by
the lowest 10% income group among the UK population.
7.6 The conclusion of the review was that the payments provided
under current arrangements result in families receiving
significantly more cash than is necessary to meet their essential
living needs. This is mainly because, in addition to the payments
for the parents, a sum of £52.96 is usually paid for every child in
the household (£39.80 if the child is between 16 or 17 years of
age). This payment methodology provides more than enough to
cover the needs of individual children and takes no account of the
economies of scale available to the household as a whole. (…)
It goes on to state that the changes will bring the UK’s asylum support
arrangements closer in line with practice in some other EU states, which
already take account of economies of scale available to households
(notably Sweden, Germany and France). It states that the changes will
mean that a family of four asylum seekers in the UK will receive roughly
the same amount of cash support as they would in Sweden.
This is the second time that the Home Office have laid regulations to
introduce a standard rate for asylum support. In March 2015 the then
Government laid similar regulations, but they were revoked before they
were scheduled to take effect. 10
Initial reactions from asylum/refugee charities
The change in asylum support rates has been condemned by several
asylum/refugee charities. They have long argued that asylum support
rates, which have mostly been frozen since April 2011, have been
inadequate to cater for asylum seekers’ essential needs. The charities
have warned that the new standard rate will have a “devastating
impact” on supported families, and put more vulnerable families into
poverty.
9
10
GOV.UK, Asylum support (last updated 22 April 2015)
Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/645, revoked and replaced
by Asylum Support (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/944
The Government says
that the new rate will
reflect economies of
scale available to
households, in line
with the approach
taken in other EU
states
9
'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
The Refugee Council has called on the Government to commission an
independent review of asylum support rates, but the Government has
confirmed that it has no plans to do so.
Parliamentary scrutiny of the changes
The changes are being made through regulations, which were laid
before Parliament on 16 July. 11 The regulations are due to be approved
under the negative resolution procedure (i.e. they will automatically
become law, but could be revoked if either House votes against them).
Previous asylum support rates (April 2011 – August
2015)
Asylum support rates remained the same for most categories of asylum
seeker between 18 April 2011 and 9 August 2015. They were
periodically reviewed during this time but the then Government
remained satisfied that they were adequate for meeting destitute
asylum seekers’ essential living needs. 12
The only change was a slight adjustment to the rate for single adult
asylum seekers in April 2015 (from £36.62 to £36.95), as reflected in
the table below: 13
Weekly
payment
Married couple or couple in civil
partnership
£72.52
Lone parent aged 18 or over
£43.94
Single person aged 18 or over
£36.95
Aged 16 to 18
£39.80
Aged under 16
£52.96
Legal challenge to frozen asylum support rates
The charity Refugee Action sought a judicial review of the Home
Office’s decision to leave the asylum support rates for 2013/14
unchanged.
In April 2014 the High Court found that the Home Office’s approach
had been flawed. 14 It instructed the Home Office to retake the decision
in line with guidance given its judgment.
In August 2014 the Home Office confirmed that it had conducted a
review but remained satisfied that the 2013/14 level of asylum support
should remain unchanged. 15
11
12
13
14
Asylum Support (Amendment No.3) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1501
HC Deb 6 June 2013 119WS
Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2011, SI 2011/907;
Asylum Support (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/944
[2014] EWHC 1033 (Admin)
Most asylum support
rates have been
frozen since April
2011
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 10
However, it signalled that it was considering future options for aligning
the different rates for children below 18. 16 Its review had concluded
that there was no clear rationale for older children receiving a lower rate
of support than under 16s, but also that there was no evidence that it
had resulted in households receiving an insufficient total amount of
support.
2.2 Exceptions to eligibility for asylum
support
Under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002,
asylum seekers are not entitled to support whilst their asylum
application is under consideration if they are found not to have applied
for asylum “as soon as reasonably practicable”. However, there are
exceptions for families, people with special needs and cases where a
refusal of support would be a breach of the individual’s human rights. 17
Local authorities, rather than UKVI, are responsible for providing
support to unaccompanied asylum seeker children under the Children
Act 1989 or Children (Scotland) Act 1995). 18
Local authorities’ duties to support destitute adults subject to
immigration control who have a care need, such as under the National
Assistance Act 1948, are limited. They are not obliged to provide
support to all foreign nationals facing destitution. For example, section
54 and Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
exclude certain categories of foreign national from eligibility for
assistance, including refused asylum seekers who have not cooperated
with removal directions and persons unlawfully in the UK. The No
Recourse to Public Funds Network works with and on behalf of local
authorities on these issues. It has produced a briefing which explains
how local authorities should approach assessing whether they have a
duty to support. 19 The Asylum Support Appeals Project (a charity that
provides legal advice and representation in asylum support cases) also
has a factsheet on local authorities’ duties. 20
2.3 Other entitlements
Asylum seekers are eligible for free NHS healthcare and may be eligible
for free prescriptions, free dental care, free eyesight tests and vouchers
for glasses.
Asylum seeker children have the same entitlement to state education as
other children and may be eligible for free school meals.
15
16
17
18
19
20
Home Office correspondence to National Asylum Stakeholder Forum, 11 August
2014 (available from Migrants Rights Network website, accessed 6 May 2015)
Home Office correspondence to National Asylum Stakeholder Forum, 11 August
2014 (available from Migrants Rights Network website, accessed 6 May 2015)
See Home Office, Asylum Support Policy Bulletin 75 ‘Section 55 guidance’ v.11
For further details, see Home Office, Asylum Process Guidance ‘Processing an asylum
application from a child’ v.6.0
NRPF Network, Practice Guidance for local authorities: Assessing and Supporting
Adults with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), March 2015
ASAP, Factsheet 8 ‘Local Authority Assistance for Asylum Seekers and Refused
Asylum Seekers’, April 2014
Local authorities are
responsible for
supporting
unaccompanied
asylum seeking
children
11 'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
2.4 Employment restrictions
As a general rule, asylum seekers are not allowed to work whilst waiting
for a decision on their asylum claim. However, they can apply for
permission to work if they have waited for over 12 months for an initial
decision on their asylum claim (from the date it was recorded), and are
not considered responsible for the delay in decision-making. 21
If granted, permission to work expires once the asylum claim has been
finally determined (i.e. when all appeal rights are exhausted). Asylum
seekers granted permission to work can only do jobs on the official
shortage occupation list.
Refused asylum seekers cannot apply for permission to work, unless
they have submitted further submissions for asylum and have waited for
over 12 months for a decision on these.
Asylum seekers’ rights to work are discussed in greater detail in the
Library briefing Should asylum seekers have unrestricted rights to work
in the UK?
21
Home Office, Asylum Policy Instruction, ‘Permission to work’, v.6.0
As a general rule,
asylum seekers are
not allowed to work
whilst waiting for an
asylum decision
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 12
3. Entitlements if asylum is
granted
Asylum support is terminated 28 days after a positive decision is made
on the asylum application/appeal (i.e. if ‘Refugee status’, ‘Humanitarian
Protection’ or ‘Discretionary Leave to Remain’ has been granted).
The person then becomes eligible to work in the UK without
restrictions, and to claim mainstream welfare benefits on the same basis
as British citizens. A Home Office/Department for Work and Pensions
leaflet explains how they can access Department for Work and Pensions
services.
People who are granted limited leave to remain on Article 8 grounds
(i.e. if removal is considered to be a breach of their rights to respect for
family/private life) are generally not eligible for public funds, unless the
Home Office receives evidence of destitution or other compelling
circumstances.
People granted
asylum are allowed to
work and claim
mainstream welfare
benefits
13 'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
4. Entitlements if asylum is
refused
4.1 Section 4 support if there is a temporary
barrier to departure
Asylum seekers who have been refused asylum and exhausted the
appeals process cease to be eligible for asylum support under section 95
of the 1999 Act. Asylum support is terminated 21 days after the claim
has been finally determined. 22
In limited circumstances destitute refused asylum seekers can apply for a
different type of support from UKVI (known as ‘section 4’ support),
under the provisions set out in section 4 of the 1999 Act. 23
Section 4 support is not given in cash. Instead, accommodation and an
‘Azure’ payment card is provided. The card is credited with £35.39 per
person per week and can be used in specified retail outlets to buy food
and essential toiletries. In some cases, full-board accommodation and
essential toiletries may be provided instead of an Azure card. People in
receipt of section 4 support can apply for certain additional services or
facilities if needed (such as the cost of travel to a medical appointment).
Refused asylum
seekers can access a
more limited form of
support, but only if a
temporary obstacle to
leaving the UK exists
The eligibility criteria for section 4 support are that the applicant is
destitute and satisfies one or more of the following conditions:
(a) he is taking all reasonable steps to leave the United Kingdom
or place himself in a position in which he is able to leave the
United Kingdom, which may include complying with attempts to
obtain a travel document to facilitate his departure;
(b) he is unable to leave the United Kingdom by reason of a
physical impediment to travel or for some other medical reason;
(c) he is unable to leave the United Kingdom because in the
opinion of the Secretary of State there is currently no viable route
of return available;
(d) he has made an application for judicial review of a decision in
relation to his asylum claim–
(e) the provision of accommodation is necessary for the purpose
of avoiding a breach of a person’s Convention rights, within the
meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998 (for example, because
they have submitted further representations) 24
As at the end of March 2015, 4,941 refused asylum seekers and
dependants were in receipt of section 4 support. The Home Office has
estimated that section 4 support cost around £28 million in 2014-15. 25
22
23
24
25
Asylum Support Regulations 2000, SI 2000/704 (as amended), r2, 2A
Section 4 support can also be provided to certain other categories of migrant,
including people released from immigration detention or on immigration bail
(including people who have not claimed asylum).
The Immigration and Asylum (Provision of Accommodation to Failed Asylum Seekers)
Regulations 2005, SI 2005/930, r3
Home Office, Impact Assessment, Reforming support for failed asylum seekers and
other illegal migrants, IA No Ho0195, p.4
Just under 5,000
refused asylum
seekers and
dependants were in
receipt of support, as
at the end of March
2015
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 14
The limited nature of section 4 support is partly intended to reflect the
fact that it is expected to be a temporary form of support, and to avoid
creating an incentive for refused asylum seekers to remain in the UK. 26
Nevertheless, some refused asylum seekers spend considerable lengths
of time on section 4 support due to ongoing obstacles to their removal
from the UK, such as difficulties in obtaining travel documentation
acceptable to their country of origin. A PQ answered in June 2015 gave
a breakdown of the length of time that section 4 recipients had been in
receipt of support at that time:
Asylum: Finance: Written question - HL64
Asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have received
support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
for more than (1) one year, (2) 5 years, and (3) 10 years.
Answered by: Lord Bates
As of 28 May the number of people who have been in receipt of
asylum support can be found in the table below:
Years in receipt of Support - Number of people
Between 1 and 5 years - 3,330
Between 5 and 10 years - 295
More than 10 Years - 0
4.2 Section 95 support for households with
children under 18
Refused asylum seeker households that include children (under 18 years
old) who were born before a final decision was made on the asylum
claim generally continue to receive asylum support under section 95 of
the 1999 Act (i.e. the same as they received whilst waiting for a decision
on the claim) until the youngest child turns 18 or the family is removed
from the UK. 27 The Government has recently estimated that, as of 31
March 2015, 2,900 families (around 10,100 people) were in receipt of
section 95 support on this bases. Such support is estimated to have cost
the Government £45 million in 2014-15. 28
There are legislative powers which allow for the withdrawal of support
from refused asylum seeker households with dependents under 18 years
old. 29 These have not been widely used, although the Government’s
August 2015 consultation on asylum support reform (discussed in
section 6 below) includes proposals to make more use of a revised
version of these powers in the future.
26
27
28
29
HC Deb 16 September 2010 c1213W; HC Deb 11 December 2013 c222-3W
However, households including dependent children under 18 may receive section 4
support if the children were born after a final decision was made on the asylum
claim. In certain circumstances, pregnant refused asylum seekers may also receive
section 4 support.
Home Office, consultation, Reforming support for failed asylum seekers and other
illegal migrants, August 2015, p.6
See, for example, Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, Etc.) Act 2004,
s9, as discussed in Library briefing Immigration Bill 2015-16.
Powers to deny
support to refused
asylum seeker
households with
children have not
been widely used
15 'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
4.3 Support from local authorities
Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
prevents local authorities from providing support to refused asylum
seekers who have not cooperated with removal directions and persons
unlawfully in the UK, unless refusing support breaches their human
rights. Refusing to provide support might not breach human rights, for
example, if it is a viable option for the person to return to their country
of origin. 30
30
NRPF Network, Practice Guidance for local authorities: Assessing and Supporting
Adults with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), March 2015
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 16
5. Rights of appeal if asylum
support is refused or
withdrawn
UKVI decisions to refuse or withdraw asylum support can be challenged
by way of an appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Asylum Support). A notice
of appeal must be lodged within 3 working days of receipt of a letter
refusing support, and there are also short timescales for the
consideration and determination of the appeal. 31
The Tribunal is based in London. Appellants can request an oral hearing
or have their appeal considered on the papers. When determining an
appeal, Tribunal Judges can either request that UKVI reconsider its
decision, substitute UKVI’s decision with one of their own, or dismiss
the appeal. Decisions by Asylum Support Tribunal Judges can only be
challenged by judicial review.
Legal aid is not available for asylum support appeals. The Asylum
Support Appeals Project is a voluntary organisation which, amongst
other services, provides some free legal advice and representation in
relation to asylum support appeals. It also has some useful information
on its website for asylum seekers and advisers about asylum support
entitlements and rights of appeal.
31
Asylum Support Appeals (Procedure) (Amendment) Rules 2003, SI 2003/1735
There is a right of
appeal against
decisions to refuse or
withdraw asylum
support
17 'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
6.
Government proposals to
change asylum support
entitlements
6.1 Immigration Bill 2015 – 16
Part 5 of the Immigration Bill 2015-16 would make changes to asylum
support provisions in the 1999 Act.
The Government’s intention, as indicated in the Home Office factsheet
for this part of the Bill, is that the measures will “reduce the scope for
… support to remove incentives for failed asylum seekers to remain in
the UK illegally”.
In particular, the Bill proposes replacing section 4 support with a new
category of support (‘section 95A’), which would only be available to
destitute refused asylum seekers (including family cases) who face a
“genuine obstacle” to leaving the UK.
Many of the details relating to the proposed section 95A support,
including the definition of a “genuine obstacle”, other eligibility criteria,
whether the support would be provided in cash or vouchers, and any
conditions attached to section 95A support, would be specified in
regulations. These would be subject to the negative resolution
procedure.
Refused asylum-seeker families who did not qualify for the new section
95A support would not have access to support.
The changes would not be applied retrospectively. The Bill includes
some proposed transitional measures, which are intended to prevent
large numbers of people abruptly losing their support entitlements:
•
•
Section 4 support would continue for people who were in receipt
of section 4 support, or who had an outstanding application or
appeal for section 4 support immediately prior to the Bill’s
provisions repealing section 4 coming into force.
Section 95 support would continue for refused families in receipt
of section 95 support, or who had an outstanding application or
appeal for section 95 support immediately prior to the repeal of
the related provisions coming into force.
However, the Bill also indicates that the Government intends to make
use of existing powers to terminate asylum support in order to
encourage transitional family cases to leave the UK in the event of the
refusal of their asylum claim (as referred to in section 4.2 of this
briefing).
The Home Office factsheet states that the Government is working with
local authorities on the details of how the measures will be
implemented. It does not intend for the costs of supporting refused
asylum seekers and families to fall on local authorities.
The Immigration Bill
2015-16 includes
measures to further
restrict refused
asylum seekers’
eligibility for support,
including refused
family households
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 18
The provisions are informed by proposals outlined in a Home Office
public consultation on ‘Reforming support for failed asylum seekers and
other illegal migrants’ which took place between August and
September.
Home Office figures quoted in the consultation document indicate that,
as at 31 March 2015, an estimated 15,000 refused asylum seekers and
their dependants were in receipt of asylum support. The Home Office
has also estimated that this cost an estimated £73 million in 2014-15.
The Library briefing paper on the Immigration Bill 2015-16 has further
background information about the proposed changes.
6.2 Devolving asylum support powers to
Scotland
Alongside the consultation on changing the arrangements for
supporting refused asylum seekers, the UK and Scottish governments
are currently discussing the possibility of introducing different powers
for the provision of financial support and accommodation and advice to
asylum seekers in Scotland. These discussions were prompted by the
Smith Commission Heads of Agreement identifying this as a further
issue to consider.
The possibility of
introducing different
powers for providing
support and advice to
asylum seekers in
Scotland is being
discussed
19 'Asylum support': accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers
7. Further reading: Recent
parliamentary interest, reports,
etc.
Statistics
The Immigration statistics quarterly release tables, available from
GOV.UK, include information about applications for section 95 and
section 4 asylum support.
Home Office Freedom of Information releases are published on
GOV.UK.
Parliamentary interest
Parliamentary material, including PQs and debates, EDMs and
legislation, Deposited and Parliamentary papers, can be searched for
using the Parliamentary Search facility on the intranet.
EDM 99 of 2014-15 ‘High Court judgment on asylum support’
Urgent Question on Asylum Seekers (Support), HC Deb 10 April 2014 c
415-424
Debate on section 4 support in Immigration Bill Public Bill Committee,
PBC Deb 19 November 2013 c402-406
Westminster Hall debate on Asylum Suport (Children and Young
People), HC Deb 27 February 2013 c67WH-89WH
Inquiries, inspection reports, NGO campaigns, etc.
Home Affairs Committee, Asylum, HC 71 of 2013-14, 11 October 2013;
Government response to the seventh report from the Home Affairs
Committee session HC 71 2013-14 Asylum, Cm 8769, December 2013
Chapter 3 of the Committee’s report considers levels of financial
support for asylum seekers, restrictions on asylum seekers’ rights to
work, and the quality of accommodation provided to asylum seekers.
The Children’s Society, Report of the Parliamentary inquiry into asylum
support for children and young people, January 2013
A report of an inquiry conducted by a cross-party panel of
Parliamentarians supported by The Children’s Society. The
recommendations included abolishing Section 4 support in favour of “a
single cash-based support system for all children and their families who
need asylum support while they are in the UK”; aligning asylum support
for families provided with accommodation with mainstream benefit
rates paid for living expenses; and increasing support annually and at
least in line with Income Support. The Children’s Society launched a
campaign to End Forced Destitution to take forward the report’s
recommendations.
Number 1909, 14 October 2015 20
National Audit Office, COMPASS contracts for the provision of
accommodation to asylum seekers, 10 January 2014 (see also Public
Accounts Committee, COMPASS: Provision of asylum accommodation,
HC 1000 of 2013-13, 24 April 2014 and Government responses on
reports of the Committee of Public Accounts session 2013-14, Cm
8871, June 2014)
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, An inspection
of Asylum Support September 2013 – January 2014; Home Office, The
Home Office’s response to the independent Chief Inspector’s report
both published July 2014
The Independent Chief Inspector concluded that the Home Office was
deciding applications for asylum support fairly, but there was no
effective strategy in place to identify and tackle asylum support fraud.
Refugee Action campaign to Bring back dignity to our asylum support
system
Refugee Council, 28 days later: experiences of new refugees in the UK,
22 May 2014
British Red Cross, The Azure payment card the humanitarian cost of a
cashless system, 25 July 2014
Asylum Support Appeals Project, UKBA decision making audit one year
on, still no credibility, May 2013
Refugee Council/Maternity Action, When maternity doesn’t matter:
Dispersing pregnant women seeking asylum, 25 February 2013
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