REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO ASYLUM SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE, 2013 Jan 31 Report about asylum support for children
Key recommendations
- The government should abolish Section 4 support and urgently implement a single cash-based support system for all children and their families who need asylum support while they are in the UK. This should include children who were born after an asylum refusal, to ensure that no child is left destitute.
- Asylum support for families also provided with accommodation should be aligned with mainstream benefit rates paid for living expenses. Where accommodation includes utilities (such as heating, lighting and water rates) which would normally be expected to be paid from living expenses, it is appropriate to make some deduction. However, these must be reasonable and comparable to those made from housing benefit where gas, electricity and water bills are covered within rent payments. The rates of support should never fall below 70% of income support.
- Support should be increased annually and at the very least in line with income support.
- Permission to work should be granted to asylum seeking parents and young adults if their claim for asylum has not been concluded within six months. Refused asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their country of origin should also be allowed to work.
- Newly dispersed families should be provided with comprehensive, written information in a language which they understand about their rights and entitlements, as well as practical information about services in their areas and where to get support.
- The government should ensure that asylum seekers’ needs for privacy are respected by housing providers, who should not enter properties unannounced.
- Ministers and the UKBA should work to promote positive relations between refugee and British communities, and a constructive public debate by celebrating and supporting this country’s proud tradition of giving sanctuary to those in need of protection.
…
In the media:
Woeful asylum spport pushes children and families into destitution www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Alarmingly low levels of asylum support are forcing thousands of children and … The cross-party parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people, led by former children’s minister Sarah Teather MP, today launches its report (summary, full text) into how asylum-seeking children and …
Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young … www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people … we receive, we will publish a report with findings and recommendations in January.
The Children’s Commissioner for England www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/
Promoting the views and best interests of children and young people in England … 11 January 2013Invitation to tender to conduct research on the 2013 Budget … report of the Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children: http://t.co/ …
Asylum-support system is pushing families into severe poverty, say … www.guardian.co.uk
Parliamentary inquiry finds children left destitute and homeless, without state support and relying on food parcels. … The Guardian, Wednesday 30 January 2013 … Among numerous case studies, the report cites the example of a … who led the inquiry into asylum support for children and young people.
Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young www.childrensworkforcematters.org.uk/node/1718 Parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people …evidence and a final report and recommendations will be published in January 2013.
Asylum families living in ‘appalling’ conditions | News | Inside Housing www.insidehousing.co.uk/…/asylum…/6525537.article?…
30 January 2013 | By Emily Twinch … crowded, dirty and unsafe conditions, aparliamentary inquiry has concluded. The cross-party inquiry into asylum support for children and young people, led by former children’s minister Sarah Teather, found families living well below mainstream benefit levels. … Report this comment …
Children plunged into ‘severe poverty’ by asylum benefit system …
www.cypnow.co.uk › By Neil Puffett, Thursday 31 January 2013 … The report of the cross-partyparliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people found evidence of families living on such low levels of support that they struggled to feed …