Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Home Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Brash Excerpts
Monday 24th February 2025

(1 month, 1 week ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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For the final question, Jonathan Brash.

Jonathan Brash Portrait Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)
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Dispersal accommodation for asylum is unevenly distributed across the country. In Hartlepool, we support 50 asylum seekers per 10,000 in the population, yet a few miles up the road, the neighbouring local authority supports seven per 10,000, with local authorities elsewhere in the country hosting none. Does the Minister agree that this is unfair, and that, as we bring the numbers down, we must evenly distribute support for asylum seekers across the areas?

Angela Eagle Portrait Dame Angela Eagle
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We did inherit a very uneven distribution—if I could put it that way—of dispersed accommodation, often in poorer areas where, its presence puts more pressure on local communities. It is not a situation that we would have wanted, and we want to remedy it over time.