Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

(asked on 18th August 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the standard of temporary asylum accommodation in the UK; and what plans she has to increase the amount of available accommodation as part of the New Plan for Immigration.


Answered by
Kevin Foster Portrait
Kevin Foster
This question was answered on 10th September 2021

We expect appropriate standards from our providers, who are expected to conduct regular checks across the accommodation estate. Throughout the pandemic, the ability to inspect accommodation in the usual way has faced some understandable logistical challenges, however we have robust systems in place to monitor and ensure continued accordance with the standards of service we and those we accommodate expect.

Service users can also raise specific issues or concerns about their accommodation through the 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service operated by Migrant Help. The Home Office and our providers receive feedback on complaints raised through our regular dialogue with Migrant Help, which enables attention to be focussed on any areas of concern.

All Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contracts (AASC) must adhere the Asylum Accommodation and Support Schedule Statement of Requirements. The standards of accommodation and service are set within the AASC contract and represent a higher standard of quality than the preceding COMPASS contracts.

The new contracts have resulted in significant investment in the accommodation estate and its itinerary – improved facilities in Initial Accommodation, clear requirements on room sharing and greater inventory in Dispersal Accommodation. The new AIRE contract also introduces more independent and transparent oversight of standards through clearer complaints mechanisms for service users and supporting data which allows more intelligent targeting of performance improvement.

We are working closely with local authorities across the UK to secure additional accommodation and ensure service users can move through and ‘move-on’ from the support system. We urge local authorities to work with us to identify new accommodation.

Procurement of properties is being conducted at pace, but in all cases is subject to the consultation process set out within the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC), whereby Local Authorities are able to raise objections to procurement of each specific property being proposed for use.

The Home Office is committed to working closely with communities and stakeholders to ensure destitute asylum seekers are housed in safe, secure and suitable accommodation, and they are treated with dignity while their asylum claim is considered.

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