Asylum Seekers: Accommodation

Lord German Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend gives me the opportunity to say that in 2015 no hotels were housing asylum seekers. That figure rose to 400 at its peak just over a year ago. It has now dropped considerably. For the very reasons that the noble Lord, Lord Young, mentioned, the failure to control borders and sea crossings led to these daily costs to the taxpayer and legitimate asylum seekers using that asylum accommodation. That is a failure of political management and we are determined to address it.

[Lord German (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister may well recall the response he gave me when we discussed the proposal for allowing asylum seekers to work, thereby not only reducing the need for accommodation but dramatically reducing the budget. He said that it was a policy idea. Given that, what consideration have the Government and his department given to reducing the demand for accommodation through allowing people to work? If they have not already done so, when will they?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I think I recall answering that it was a policy submission that we would reflect on. The important point for the Government is to do three things: first, speed up agreement on asylum claims to ensure that people with genuine asylum claims have a right to live here, and, presumably, will subsequently wish to work here; secondly, put in place Border Force control to stop illegal migration and gangmasters subverting the asylum system; and, thirdly, ensure that we reduce the asylum accommodation that we have, for the reasons mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Young—cost and efficiency—and look at dispersed accommodation in the meantime. I will keep the policy suggestion from the noble Lord, Lord German, on the table as part of the contributions to discussions on how we achieve those three objectives.