Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) equality impact assessment has been undertaken of the forthcoming changes to the Immigration Rules announced on 13 January 2015 that will require further submissions by post-2007 refused asylum applicants to be made in person at her Department's office in Liverpool.

The further submissions process applies only to failed asylum seekers whose claims have already been carefully considered by UK Visas and Immigration, and their cases examined and found by the independent courts not to need protection or have any other
basis to stay in the UK. Those who choose to make further submissions have usually been in the UK for at least six months and will have had access to free legal advice throughout the asylum process.

The changes we are making will bring post-2007 further submissions cases in line with pre-2007 cases by requiring all applications to be lodged in person, in Liverpool, unless there are exceptional circumstances. This will improve customer service and enable decisions on further submissions to be taken within five working days in most cases. Those who are recognised as refugees or found to be otherwise eligible for leave to remain in the UK will therefore be granted leave more quickly under the new arrangements.

Those whose applications are rejected will be expected to leave the UK and in most cases will not be eligible for asylum support. Tax payers should not be expected to support migrants who have failed to establish a right to remain in the UK and the changes we are making will result in substantial financial savings to asylum support costs.

A full equality impact assessment was undertaken in advance of the changes. Extension of the existing process to more recent cases has been deferred for a short period to allow for discussion of concerns raised by Liverpool City Council but when we implement we expect to publish the Policy Equality Statement along with the revised policy.