Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has plans for local authorities to provide independent oversight housing for asylum seekers.

The Home Office and its Providers are committed to working closely with local authorities and communities to ensure the sustainability of asylum accommodation contracts. We engage with local authorities on a regular basis and welcome their involvement in ensuring that asylum accommodation is of the required standard. The Home Office and its Providers have undertaken inspections jointly with local authorities where the local authority feels this is necessary and would be happy to continue that practice in future.