Asylum Seekers: Government Support

Home Department – in the House of Commons am ar 29 Gorffennaf 2024.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Carla Denyer Carla Denyer Green, Bristol Central

What steps she is taking to help prevent asylum seekers from becoming destitute.

Photo of Angela Eagle Angela Eagle The Minister of State, Home Department

The last Government lost control of the asylum system, which has meant sky-high asylum accommodation costs but also too many cases in which people have fallen through the net and ended up destitute. That has added to the already heavy burden that local authorities have to deal with. This Government will get a grip. We have already set out plans to process asylum claims that have been stuck in record high backlogs, and have given assurances to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that we will take action to reset the relationship between the Home Office and local authorities.

Photo of Carla Denyer Carla Denyer Green, Bristol Central

No recourse to public funds is a policy that prevents most migrants in the UK from accessing most forms of welfare support. I would like to see the policy scrapped altogether to reduce child poverty and homelessness, but, at the very least, will the Minister stop applying it to the visas of any parents of children under 18 to ensure that children can be adequately protected against poverty and destitution?

Photo of Angela Eagle Angela Eagle The Minister of State, Home Department

No, the best way to deal with the issue of destitution, in my view, is to decide asylum claims quickly and accurately so that those who are entitled to work can do so and can have such recourse, and those who are not can be swiftly removed.