Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to allow asylum seekers who have not received a decision on their claim for asylum within 6 months to work.

Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can apply for permission to work. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Immigration Salary List. This list is based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee. There are no current plans to change this.