Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Aspen cards issued to asylum seekers have failed to work since their introduction in 2017.
The functionality of the Aspen card was thoroughly tested prior to its rollout in May 2017 however the Home Office is aware that a minority of service users have experienced delays in the processing of their applications and payments. We continue to work closely with our IT and commercial partners and other stakeholders to ensure that any issues raised in respect of Aspen cards are resolved and no service users are left destitute.