Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to introduce a quota to determine the number of adult asylum seekers placed in each (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency.

From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK.

We have asked local authorities across the United Kingdom to provide the Home Office with plans for dispersal within their nation or region and have agreed targets, based on those plans, for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023.

As of March 31st 2023, there are no supported asylum seekers being accommodated in Arfon, Wales.

The latest Home Office figures holds show that Wales holds 2.6% of supported asylum seekers when Wales makes up 5.2% of the UK’s population. The current number of asylum seekers being accommodated in Wales is lower than it was in June 2020, despite the significant increase in asylum claims. Currently, Wales is considerably off track meeting their dispersal target.

The Standard Operating Procedure sets out that when a site is identified for use on the Asylum Support Contracts, the Deputy Director of Asylum Support will initially notify the Chief Executive of the relevant local authority and the Member of Parliament.

If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk(opens in a new tab) and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.