Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers temporarily housed in hotels have absconded in each of the past five years.

The Home Office provides accommodation and support to destitute asylum seekers under statutory provisions such as Sections 95 and 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The accommodation is non‑detained, and asylum seekers are free to leave, and return to their accommodation.

There is no Home Office requirement for asylum seekers accommodated in hotels to sign in and out whenever they leave or enter the premises. However, accommodation providers are required to report concerns about prolonged or unexplained absences from accommodation to the Home Office, which may be investigated where appropriate.

Some individuals may also be subject to immigration bail conditions requiring them to reside at a particular address or report to the Home Office.

There is a difference between Asylum Seekers who leave Home Office provided accommodation while their claim is pending and an absconder. Those who leave accommodation may be deemed as missing from that particular location but are not automatically considered as ‘absconders’ as they may remain in contact with the Home Office whilst their claim is processed.

Absconders are individuals who have breached one or more conditions of their immigration bail and all efforts to contact the person have been exhausted.

With regard to the number of asylum seekers temporarily housed in hotels that have absconded in each of the past five years, the information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.