Asylum: Finance

(asked on 30th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that asylum seekers who have no recourse to public funds can obtain soap and other essentials; and what plans they have, if any, to provide such people with mobile telephones whilst they are in the process of applying for asylum.


Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford Portrait
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This question was answered on 14th July 2020

Asylum seekers receiving support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 are generally provided with accommodation and a cash allowance to cover other essential living needs, including hygiene products. For those in section 98 Initial Accommodation and hotel or hostel accommodation, hygiene products are provided to them.

The level of the cash allowance provided takes into account communication needs, including the cost of buying and using a mobile phone. As a result of the Covid-19 crisis a higher proportion of asylum seekers than usual are being accommodated in full-board hostels and hotels. We are looking at practical ways of providing internet access to this group and other ways to enable them to communicate effectively.

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