Asylum: Housing

(asked on 13th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2020 to Question 131351 on Asylum: Greater London, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of deaths in asylum accommodation.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 18th January 2021

The Home Office, through its undertaking its statutory duties towards asylum seekers and working with other agencies and organisations, takes a great many steps to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of those whom we support. In the event of the death of a service user we work with other agencies to establish the cause of death.

At present there are just over 60000 people in asylum accommodation, with 36 fatalities recorded in 2020. This is in line with or lower than the number of deaths that would be expected given the size of this cohort, based on mortality statistics for the wider UK population of broadly this age profile.

In the significant majority of cases, deaths are as a result of natural causes (e.g. a long-term illness) or as an unintended consequence of their own action (e.g. an accidental drug overdose).

We continue to work closely with a range of organisations to provide support to those that need it and, where necessary, will fully cooperate in any investigation into the cause of an individual’s death.

Our providers continue to respond to the needs of at-risk service users to ensure their safety and wellbeing, including ensuring those in need are able to access appropriate medical treatment or wider NHS healthcare services.

Providers will notify the Home Office where safeguarding concerns are identified so that appropriate measures can be put in place to support the individual concerned.

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