Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department provides to ensure refugees are able to access secure housing following a positive asylum decision.

Asylum seekers who are recognised as refugees are eligible to the same level of assistance from local authorities to obtain suitable housing as British Citizens and other permanent residents, and are treated as having a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. They are also eligible to apply for mainstream benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions.

The Government is working on a number of important initiatives to ensure that newly recognised refugees are able to access benefits and housing promptly once their Home Office support ends, after 28 days.

We have established a working group to consider what more we can do, which includes the key voluntary sector groups such as the British Red Cross and Refugee Council, as well as representatives of the Department of Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.