Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they use to determine whether an applicant for section 4 asylum support should be considered particularly vulnerable; what is the target timescale for an asylum seeker who is deemed to be vulnerable to receive that support under Home Office guidelines; and what was the average time taken for a payment to be made after an application for support by an applicant that met that criteria in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The Asylum Seekers (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2005 define a vulnerable person as:

• A minor
• A disabled person
• An elderly person
• A pregnant woman
• A person who has been subjected to torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence;
• A person who has had an individual evaluation of his situation that confirms he/she has special needs.

Accommodation providers are also contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate. The definition of vulnerability in the contracts is the same as the one set out in the 2005 Regulations.

The particular circumstances of other supported asylum seekers and their dependants who may have other particular vulnerabilities are also carefully considered, for example because they have care needs or health problems that require a need for a specific type of accommodation or accommodation in a particular location. Further details regarding these policies can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-accommodation-requests-policy

We aim to decide most of these applications within 5 working days, or 2 days of the Home Office reviewing the application if the person is vulnerable, but some take longer because of the need to make further enquiries to establish that the person is eligible to receive the support.

The Home Office monitors closely the performance of asylum support application decision making and has a range of targets for processing support applications depending on the nature of the application being made. However information on processing times is not recorded in a format suitable for publication. We are currently in the process of embedding a new system and reporting tools and once this has been implemented we will review our reporting processes,.