Home Affairs Sub-committee: deadline 3 February 2025
The Home Office has a duty to provide housing and subsistence to asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision on their claim and are destitute.
Asylum accommodation is primarily delivered by private providers through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC). Home Office spending on asylum accommodation and support has increased significantly in recent years, from £739 million in 2019-20 to £4.7 billion in 2023-4.
The Home Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into asylum accommodation. The inquiry will focus on how asylum accommodation is currently delivered, how the Home Office has managed the AAS contracts, and what lessons can be learned and applied to delivery of asylum accommodation in the future. The inquiry will also look at the impact that the current approach to delivering asylum accommodation has on local areas, and how the Home Office works with local partners, particularly local authorities.
The committee wants to hear your views. We welcome submissions from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. You can submit evidence until Monday 3 February 2025.
Written submissions are invited on the following issues:
The delivery of asylum accommodation
- The Home Office’s use and management of asylum accommodation contracts, including in response to growing demand and changing needs
- The performance of providers delivering the current contracts on:
- Identifying and delivering appropriate accommodation
- Engaging and working with stakeholders
- Safeguarding and supporting the welfare of people in asylum accommodation
- Managing and sharing data
- How the Home Office works with other Government departments and local authorities on housing supply issues
The impact of current arrangements for asylum accommodation on local areas
- The Home Office’s approach to the distribution of asylum accommodation at a regional and local level
- The Home Office’s engagement and joint working with local authorities, local health services, NGOs and other local partners
- The impact of the current approach to delivering asylum accommodation on local services
- The Home Office’s approach to working with local partners to support people who have been granted refugee status and are leaving asylum accommodation