Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to help speed up decision-making for asylum cases; and what targets her Department has set for improving decision-making times.

The Home Office is investing in innovative techniques, including AI, to explore how we can improve productivity, speed up the processing of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision, and restore order in the asylum system.

The proportion of asylum claims receiving an initial decision within six months is at the highest level since Q3 2017 (60.6%).

Asylum decisions are subject to stringent quality checks to ensure that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.

We are working to improve the speed of decisions and reduce the number of outstanding claims; but there will always be complex cases, and it is right we take time to work through them carefully.