Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that asylum seekers accommodated as part of the asylum accommodation and support contracts are not placed in shared bedrooms with non-family members.

The forthcoming Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts will permit the use of room sharing for some service users, providing it complies with the strict criteria set out in the contracts Statement of Requirements. This includes compliance relevant national and local housing regulations including any advice from social services and primary and secondary care bodies on whether room sharing is inappropriate for individual cases.

In addition, Providers will be continue to be required to ensure that they take into account a service users individual characteristics and provide them with appropriate accommodation reflective of any changing needs, including adherence to religious practice.