Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for asylum are currently awaiting a decision; what is the average time taken to process an application; and what steps are being taken to reduce the time taken to process applications.

We are restoring order to the asylum system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operate swiftly.

We are using a range of technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to improve staff productivity.

We doubled the rate of decision-making. The first half of this year saw the second and third highest quarters for decision-making since records began.

Statistics on the full asylum WIP is published in table ASY_03 on GOV.UK in the ‘Immigration and Protection data’, as part of the ‘Migration Transparency data’. The total number of cases in the asylum system relates to both those awaiting an initial decision and those who have appealed and are waiting a further outcome. The latest published data relates to the year ending June 2024.

As at 30 June 2025, there were 70,532 cases awaiting an initial decision.

The average time taken to process claims is not currently available from published statistics. Statistics regarding the age of asylum claims awaiting an initial decision is published in table Asy_D03 of the ‘Asylum claims awaiting a decision detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2025.We have increased the speed at which cases are processed, with 42% of claims received in 2024 Q4 being processed within 6 months, by comparison, 7% of claims received in 2023 Q4 were processed within 6 months.

By transforming the asylum system, we will clear the backlog of claims and appeals.