Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risk of homelessness for new refugees; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the move-on period before the withdrawal of Section 95 support.

Where an individual is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation (or ‘move on’ period’) is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period. Individuals remain on asylum support, including accommodation, until the end of the 28 day period.

During this period, the Home Office provides individuals who have received a positive decision to their asylum claim with support through Migrant Help and/or their partner organisations. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) to make a claim for Universal Credit and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require it. Messaging to individuals is being reviewed to encourage them to plan to move on from asylum support as soon as they have received their decision.

The Home Office are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan. Additionally, the Home Office are working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Accommodation providers are also working directly with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.

The asylum accommodation estate is under huge strain and increasing the ‘move on’ period would exacerbate these pressures. There are no current plans to extend the period (of 28 days) for how long individuals remain on asylum support once they have had a grant of asylum. We are engaging the DWP and DLUHC to ensure individuals can move on from asylum support as smoothly as possible.