Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will support the most vulnerable asylum seekers, who are granted core protection, to access work and study routes to settlement.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to keeping all aspects of the asylum system under regular review, including the impact of introducing 30‑month temporary permission to stay under the core protection model.
Equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, Home Office officials consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, and the impact that asylum reforms will have on those with protected characteristics, is no exception.
Where possible, individuals granted core protection will be encouraged to move onto the protection work and study route, which provides a pathway towards longer‑term residence and settlement.
At the same time, in line with the UK’s international obligations, no one will be removed to their country of origin, or any other country, where they have a well‑founded fear of persecution or are at risk of serious harm.
The Home Office is carefully considering the appropriate pathways for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, asylum-seeking families with children, and other vulnerable asylum seekers.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they are monitoring the impact of the introduction of 30 month temporary protection for asylum seekers.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to keeping all aspects of the asylum system under regular review, including the impact of introducing 30‑month temporary permission to stay under the core protection model.
Equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, Home Office officials consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, and the impact that asylum reforms will have on those with protected characteristics, is no exception.
Where possible, individuals granted core protection will be encouraged to move onto the protection work and study route, which provides a pathway towards longer‑term residence and settlement.
At the same time, in line with the UK’s international obligations, no one will be removed to their country of origin, or any other country, where they have a well‑founded fear of persecution or are at risk of serious harm.
The Home Office is carefully considering the appropriate pathways for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, asylum-seeking families with children, and other vulnerable asylum seekers.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 24 March (HL15469), whether the Home Office has commissioned a second external peer review of the National Centre for Social Research evaluation of the pilot move on period for newly recognised refugees; and if so, when they expect that peer review to be completed.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The independent evaluation led by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has undergone external peer review as part of the publication process, including the requirement for two satisfactory external peer reviews.
Publication is expected in Spring 2026, subject to Ministerial clearance.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to resettle refugees through community sponsorship and humanitarian programmes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, published in November 2025, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme and capped routes for refugee and displaced students to come to the UK to study or for work.
The delivery of the new routes will support the Government’s overall objective of providing an orderly and controlled system of safe and legal routes that is aligned with community capacity to welcome refugees.
Work is underway to deliver the new routes. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the National Centre for Social Research evaluation of the pilot move on period for newly recognised refugees to leave asylum accommodation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The evaluation report cannot be shared externally until we have two satisfactory external peer reviews. Once approved, the report will be published on GOV.UK as part of the Home Office Research Series.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a refugee with newly granted refugee status requires (1) an e-visa, or (2) an asylum decision letter, to apply for Universal Credit.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
A newly granted refugee will have digital status (e-visa) at the point a positive decision is made; the Home Office will create the eVisa account on behalf of the newly granted refugee, and the individual can commence the move on process and access some key services prior to their eVisa account being created. Individuals can use their Application Registration Card (ARC) along with the asylum decision letter to access benefits.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 12 February (HL4531), whether the management information related to the "no recourse to public funds" condition is not available on the Atlas system for each leave to remain record.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Atlas records, as part of a leave to remain decision, whether an individual has been given a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition, and every individual who has an immigration application record on Atlas has their nationality, gender and date of birth recorded as standard. Management Information reports related to the NRPF condition are not yet available, pending prioritisation of enabling work.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the waiting period before an asylum seeker with an outstanding asylum claim can access jobs on the Shortage Occupation List or the Immigration Salary List to six months.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office’s priority remains to ensure that employers and employees who play by the rules are not undercut by people working illegally, or by unscrupulous employers exploiting their labour.
We have repeatedly resisted calls to relax our policy position on asylum seeker permission to work. Allowing asylum seekers the right to work sooner than under the current rules could enable migrants to bypass established work visa routes, and may act as an incentive for people to travel here illegally via dangerous routes. Asylum seekers do not need to make dangerous journeys to seek employment in the UK. There are various legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points Based System.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timeline for the full implementation of the ATLAS caseworking system; and whether they expect it to be fully operational in 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Atlas caseworking system is replacing the legacy CID (Case Information Database) system and we expect to decommission CID in the first half of 2025. Atlas is already fully operational in practice, with almost all in-country caseworking across Migration & Borders being processed on it since mid-2024. A small handful of exceptional immigration routes remain to transition over from CID to Atlas in the next few months.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the ATLAS caseworking system will include functionality to track and report on the (1) number, and (2) demographics, of individuals granted leave to remain with a 'no recourse to public funds' condition; and if so, when this functionality will be fully operational.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Atlas system records, as part of a leave to remain decision, whether an individual has been given a 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) condition, and every individual who has an immigration application record on Atlas has their nationality, gender and date of birth recorded as standard. Management Information related to the NRPF condition is expected to be available by late summer 2025, following the transition of caseworking for a small number of remaining immigration routes onto Atlas.