Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve processing times for asylum applications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office is developing comprehensive plans to improve processing times.
The Asylum Transformation programme aims to bring the system back into balance and modernise it. It is focused on increasing productivity by streamlining, simplifying and digitising processes to speed up decision making to increase efficiency and output.
We have increased the number of asylum caseworkers by 80% from 597 staff in 2019/20 to more than 1,000 today. We are on course for a further 500 people by March 2023, which would take our total to approximately 1,500. We are planning fresh recruitment of decision makers to ensure that vacancies can be filled quickly, and to build a sustainably resourced decision-making system. In addition, we have implemented a recruitment and retention allowance which has reduced Decision Maker attrition rates by 30%, helping us maintain experienced asylum Decision Makers.
Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK Border Force.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Since 2018, Border Force staffing has increased from 7,700 to over 8,700 to boost wider operational resilience. This includes a brand-new Readiness Task Force (RTF) of c. 300 multi-functional officers, available to deploy across the UK at short notice in response to emerging issues and peaks in demand.
The Government is developing a new global border and immigration system that makes better use of data, biometrics, analytics and automation to improve both security and fluidity across the border
We intend to introduce a requirement for visitors and transit passengers who do not currently need a visa to come to the UK to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), as an additional security measure. This will enable the Government to conduct security checks on passengers and make more informed decisions on information obtained at an earlier stage, as to whether individuals should be allowed to travel to and enter the UK.
We are also investing in new technology, including ePassport gates and other modern detection technology to improve security and prevent illegal entry.
As previously announced, we intend to phase out the acceptance of EEA and Swiss national identity cards to enter the UK in the future. National identity cards are often the most insecure and forged documents detected at the border and are not compatible with the ePassport gates. By making better use of digital technology and automation, Border Force will be able to provide an improved service whilst maintaining security.