Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many bids were received by the Home Office for the asylum accommodation and support contracts to begin in 2019 in (a) the original procurement exercise and (b) the second procurement exercise.

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract(AASC) response to invitation to tender from the Home Office received a total of 19 bids across all seven regions, of which 5 were in relation to the second procurement exercise.