Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department is using to determine the correct financial remuneration for assisted voluntary return.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All criteria for accessing support to return is set out on the Voluntary Returns Service webpage at Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK
We are planning to pilot an increased financial package for a limited time for those willing to return home voluntarily, saving the taxpayer money on costly asylum accommodation. We have not yet alighted on the full sums involved or eligibility criteria.
Voluntary removals save the UK taxpayer money on expensive asylum accommodation and costs of detention, appeals, and other legal challenges are also significantly reduced.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what payment package her Department is considering as part of assisted voluntary return.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All criteria for accessing support to return is set out on the Voluntary Returns Service webpage at Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK
We are planning to pilot an increased financial package for a limited time for those willing to return home voluntarily, saving the taxpayer money on costly asylum accommodation. We have not yet alighted on the full sums involved or eligibility criteria.
Voluntary removals save the UK taxpayer money on expensive asylum accommodation and costs of detention, appeals, and other legal challenges are also significantly reduced.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Statement on Asylum Policy of 17 of November, Official Report column 509, how many failed asylum seekers are from a home country who is not a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights in each year for which information is available.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on the number of failed asylum seekers, including those with exhausted appeal rights, from countries that are not signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Published asylum data is available in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release. The latest outcomes of asylum claims, as at July 2024, are in table Asy_D04 of the asylum detailed datasets. These figures should not be interpreted as the number of failed asylum seekers, as refusal outcomes may still be subject to review or appeal.
As appeals information is not included, it is not possible to determine from published data how many individuals have become failed asylum seekers. Data on cases subject to removal is available in table Asy_03 of the transparency data.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the initial asylum decisions resulting in refusal have been the subject of an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal between October 2024 and March 2025; and how many of those (a) were successful, (b) were unsuccessful and (c) are outstanding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum appeals lodged, and determined by outcome, are published in tables Asy_D06 and Asy_D07, respectively, of the asylum detailed datasets. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023. Appeals data for April 2023 onwards is not available due to ongoing work on a new case working system. Updated data will be included in a future edition of the Immigration system statistics release.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on asylum appeals in the ‘Tribunal Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the open caseload for appeals relating to asylum, protection and revocation of protection is published in table FIA_4. The latest data relates to as at March 2025.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate access to free immigration advice in (a) Bristol and (b) the South West.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to making sure timely advice is there for those who need it, and this sits right at the heart of our vision for a better, more effective justice system.
We have confirmed we will be uplifting housing and immigration legal aid fees. This represents a significant investment – the first since 1996 – resulting in an increase of £20 million a year once fully implemented.
We are also supporting the sector through targeted grants. The Government is funding the costs of accreditation for immigration and asylum caseworkers, providing up to £1.4 million in 2024 and a further £1.7 million in 2025.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services, and it monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action where it can, to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.
In response to challenges around the supply of legal aid providers in the south-west, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) put in place a list of immigration providers in England and Wales who are willing and able to provide immigration advice to individuals from the Southwest who are unable to find a local provider. This list remains in force and is regularly updated and provided to individuals that call the Civil Legal Aid advice line, as well as being published/accessible on the LAA’s website.
Beyond legal aid, the Ministry of Justice is funding the delivery of wider legal support services, which provide advice and support to people facing social welfare legal problems, including immigration issues. In 2025-26 we are providing over £6 million of grant funding to 60 frontline organisations to improve access to legal support and information, both in person and online, to help people resolve their problems as early as possible. This includes funding for organisations such as some regional Citizens Advice, Law Centres (including Bristol Law Centre), Asylum Support Appeals Project, Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support, as well as AdviceNow, which provides online support on their website across a range of civil, family and tribunal problems.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 68347 on Immigration: Appeals, when the recruitment exercise commenced in 2024 for the First Tier Tribunal will be completed; and how many vacant posts at the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal will (a) be filled and (b) remain unfilled.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The recruitment for salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) closed for applications in November 2024. The recruitment for fee-paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal closed for applications in June 2024. Both exercises included recruitment for judges to be assigned to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC), Social Entitlement Chamber (SEC), Health, Education and Social Care Chamber (HESC) and War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber (WPAFCC).
Following appointment, assignment to specific First-tier Tribunal Chambers is the responsibility of the Senior President of Tribunals. This process is still underway for both the salaried and fee-paid appointments and so we cannot confirm the final numbers. It is also not yet known how many judges will be assigned to the IAC from both the fee-paid and salaried exercises.
The independent Judicial Appointments Commission publishes updated data quarterly on applications and the number of selections made for appointment once recruitment is completed: Completed exercises 2022-2025 - Judicial Appointments Commission. Information on the number of judges in post, leavers, new appointments and promotions is published annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/judicial-diversity-statistics.
To increase IAC capacity, further specific recruitment for up to 70 IAC fee paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal recruitment is underway and recruitment for up to 30 IAC salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal will commence shortly this calendar year.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will hypothecate funding saved from hotel closures for legal aid to reduce the backlog of asylum claims.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As per the Spending Review the Government has committed to delivering savings of £1.1bn by 28/29 from exiting hotels and these savings have been factored into the Home Office budget. The Spending Review settlement includes transformation funding to accelerate the transformation of the asylum system and end the costly use of asylum hotels in this Parliament by clearing the asylum backlog, increasing appeals capacity and continuing to return those with no right to be here. This will deliver the Plan for Change commitment to restore order to the asylum system.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts hear First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) appeals; and how many are fully funded to operate throughout the year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FtTIAC) has 83 tribunal hearing rooms across the United Kingdom and has access to shared court rooms in other jurisdictions. Utilisation of this space is dependent on a number of factors including the volume of ‘in person’ versus ‘remote’ hearings scheduled, budgetary allocations, the requirement for judges to sit at satellite venues and available staffing and judicial resource.
The FtTIAC is currently funded to sit to maximum levels based on available judicial capacity.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve decision-making by her Department in the context of the number of successful appeals under the Human Rights Act 1998 upheld by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on initial decisions and outcomes on asylum claims, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claim and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025.
Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025.
Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics release.
Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions of the Home Office with a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been made in each of the last 12 months; and how many of these have been or are now the subject of such an appeal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on initial decisions and outcomes on asylum claims, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claim and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025.
Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025.
Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics release.
Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.