To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether initial asylum decisions have been made for claims made before 28 June 2022.

In December 2022, the Prime Minister pledged to clear 92,601 legacy asylum claims (those lodged before the 28 June 2022) by the end of 2023. The Home Office not only cleared the equivalent 92,000 legacy asylum backlog, but exceeded it, processing over 112,000 cases in total.

Of the 112,138 initial asylum decisions, 86,800 of these decisions were made on legacy claims, with a further 25,338 decisions on flow claims. Please see Statistics relating to Illegal Migration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Around 4,500 legacy claims require further investigation. We will never compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system and will ensure that rigorous checks are made on these claims before decisions are made.

Indeed, since the end of December 2023, we have continued to make decisions on cases in the legacy backlog and will continue to do so. We will publish data on the number of outstanding decisions in the legacy cohort in the usual way.