Asylum: Evictions and Finance

(asked on 14th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish any public health guidance or advice that informed her decision of 11 August 2020 to restart asylum support cessations and evictions.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 22nd September 2020

We are resuming negative asylum support cessations in England, and soon after in the rest of the United Kingdom following discussion with officials in the Devolved Administrations. Those without an ongoing right to be in the UK should be taking steps to leave the country. All cases that receive a negative cessation will have an available route of return and we offer support through a Voluntary Returns Scheme that will pay for travel and provide a cash amount, and this can and should be utilised whenever possible.

The general advice received was that people who are awaiting a Covid test result should not be asked to leave their current dwelling until they receive a negative test result and are symptom free and that those self-isolating due to a positive test result should adhere to the full 14-day self-isolation period for close contacts.

These factors, applied to an individual case, might mean that a failed asylum seeker continues to be eligible to receive support because they are unable to leave the UK or take the necessary practical steps to enable them to leave (for example by attending an interview for the purposes of obtaining a necessary travel document).

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