Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to ensure that accommodation sites for asylum seekers will be distributed equally across the UK.

The enduring solution to this challenge is to stop the illegal, dangerous and unnecessary small boat crossings that are overwhelming our asylum system. Not only is every crossing attempt a potential tragedy, as we have seen far too often, but the people arriving via these small boats have travelled through, and have left, safe countries with fully functioning asylum systems to reach the UK.

The former Minister for safe and Legal Routes announced a move to full dispersal on 13 April 2022. The new system of full dispersal accommodation allows the Home Office to move from using hotels to less expensive and more suitable dispersed accommodation. Under full dispersal plans, all Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and are required to to take part in asylum dispersal. This will lead to a more equitable distribution of asylum seekers across the UK and reduce pressures on the minority of Local Authorities which previously participated.

To support full dispersal, delivery plans have been developed in partnership with local government across all UK regions. Plans were designed to ensure a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. Regional Governance Boards will monitor performance against plans.