Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendation of the recent report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration to introduce a Senior Civil Servant quality lead to spearhead the re-establishment of the quality agenda in the training and mentorship of asylum caseworkers.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise that achieving a sustainable improvement in quality requires a cultural shift towards a shared, collective responsibility across all those working within the asylum system. We have introduced a refreshed governance structure and have appointed an SCS Quality lead for asylum, supported by thematic leads to bridge operational and assurance functions.
Alongside this, a refreshed quality framework has been introduced, with technical staff being upskilled on the tools. Improved collaborative working with appeals colleagues will provide feedback for decision making staff and provide data to drive quality improvements.
There are a number of initiatives and working groups for colleagues to be involved in which will ensure that staff at all levels are engaged, supported, and empowered to contribute to consistently higher quality decision making.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the anticipated timeline for the publication of an impact assessment of the draft Immigration and Asylum Bill; and to what extent that assessment will focus on the issues facing children.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
An Impact Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Asylum Bill were published on GOV.UK on 30 June. The Equality Impact Assessment sets out an assessment of how the policies in the Bill may impact children in relation to the protected characteristic of age.
Careful consideration will continue to be given as to how children will be impacted by the measures within the Immigration and Asylum Bill, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship, and Immigration Act 2009.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safeguards in place to prevent the immigration detention of unaccompanied children for over 24 hours.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes its safeguarding responsibilities towards children extremely seriously.
Unaccompanied children may only be detained in very limited and exceptional circumstances, and the law places strict constraints on that detention. They may not be held in an Immigration Removal Centre under any circumstances. They must be transferred into appropriate local authority care arrangements wherever possible. An unaccompanied child may only be held in a short-term holding facility for a maximum of 24 hours for the purpose of removal.
A range of safeguards are in place to minimise detention and protect child welfare. These include the requirement to prioritise cases involving children, early referral to and engagement with local authority children’s services, a statutory duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote children’s welfare, and a requirement that detention is for the shortest time necessary. Decisions involving children are subject to oversight and operational guidance that is subject to ongoing review and updates to ensure the welfare and best interests of children remain a primary consideration.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the training available to asylum application caseworkers; and whether they plan to revise the guidance for them.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework in place to support asylum decision makers. This is delivered by a dedicated team of senior grade trainers and technical experts.
The initial training for asylum decision makers is a 9-week programme designed to give an understanding of relevant legislation, policy, and the Refugee Convention. Alongside the initial training, a range of other technical training is available to decision makers to consolidate their learning, this includes a specialised course which focuses on assessing all medical evidence, training to help detect potentially fraudulent documents, training on identifying and making appropriate intelligence referrals, as well as training on how to respond to and consider any underlying factors, such as trauma, which may be evident in a claimant’s account. The wellbeing of decision makers is also addressed in training and covers issues such as vicarious trauma and resilience.
Training materials are subject to continuous review, informed by insights from policy, operational teams as well as independent expert stakeholders. When training has not been delivered for a period of time, it undergoes a formal and rigorous review process and is updated as necessary to ensure it remains accurate, relevant, and fully compliant before being delivered.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum application caseworkers are currently employed by the Home Office; and what plans they have to hire more staff to address the appeals backlog.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed at the Home Office per month until December 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparency statistics, located on the Immigration and Protection data; September to December 2025. At the end of December 2025, there were 2,028 FTE asylum caseworkers.
We are continuing to onboard staff to maintain staffing at the required levels to allow us to manage asylum intake, reduce the overall time to make initial asylum decisions and deal with appeals.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Sheffield (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to consult charities, faith groups, and frontline support services to deliver a more sustainable approach for procuring short-term accommodation for asylum seekers in line with the recommendations on the procurement of short term accommodation set out in the Office for Value for Money's policy paper UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has already begun consultation with charities and frontline support services on future asylum accommodation plans. Officials met with voluntary and community sector stakeholders on the 5th August and plan to meet again in September. Minister Norris will be hosting engagement with faith groups later this year on future asylum accommodation plans.