Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for housing more asylum seekers in Lancashire; what is their estimate of the numbers that can be housed in each district; what proposals they have for housing more asylum seekers in Lancashire; and what discussions they have held on this matter with each unitary and district council in Lancashire.

The Home Office maintains an active partnership with local governments across the UK and funds Strategic Migration Partnerships to plan for the most appropriate dispersal of asylum seekers. We work closely with our accommodation providers and the SMPs on the placement of asylum seekers to consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments can be made where appropriate. This includes increasing the number of areas that participate in providing accommodation and support to people seeking asylum and protection and allows local authorities to continue to shape the provision of service in their area and to ensure the impacts of dispersal on local communities and services are taken into account when accommodation is allocated.

We work to a maximum agreed dispersal ratio of 1:200 asylum seekers per head of total population and would not go beyond that ratio without the agreement of the relevant local authority. The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on the number of asylum seekers housed in asylum accommodation, including under Section 95, by local authority in the Immigration Statistics release, in table as_16q and 17q in volume 4 of the Asylum data tables. These are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/691967/asylum4-oct-dec-2017-tables.ods