Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish equality impact assessments for new asylum reforms.

The decision on whether to publish equality impact assessments, considered through the development of the announced asylum reforms, will be taken by Ministers once the policy development stage has concluded.

The Government recognises the importance of family, including for this vulnerable group of individuals. However, as a responsible Government, we have to recognise the pressures that are being placed on public services, in part as a result of the number of people arriving under refugee family reunion.

The current pressures are not sustainable and we have to take urgent action to help manage the burdens that are being felt by local authorities and public services more generally. Impacts on vulnerable individuals and equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, we consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, refugee family reunion is no exception.

The Government is committed to meeting its obligations and to providing effective support to ensure that victims are assisted in their recovery from their experiences of exploitation or trafficking. We are carefully considering the impact of proposed reforms on victims of trafficking and exploitation.