§ 14. Mr. Mike Gapes (Ilford, South)If he will make a statement on his plans to change the system of support for asylum applicants. [85578]
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Jack Straw)As I announced to the House last Wednesday, I have decided to increase the cash amount paid to asylum seekers and to clarify the Secretary of State's responsibilities for the children of asylum seekers.
§ Mr. GapesI welcome that answer, but does my right hon. Friend agree that the best way to help those many thousands of people who flee oppression and discrimination, some of whom come to this country, is to ensure that quick decisions are made about their status so that they do not have to wait months—or years, in many cases—before a decision is made?
Will my right hon. Friend give the House an assurance that renewed, strenuous efforts will be made to sort out the chaotic inheritance that the previous Government left at Croydon, and the incompetent computer system which has caused so many problems for so many of my constituents and others? Will he also do something to deal with the crooks, spivs and racketeers purporting to be immigration advisers—some of whom are solicitors—to get them out of the system? That will make sure that our constituents do not suffer from incompetent, misleading advice and that the legal aid system is not abused by such people.
§ Mr. StrawI agree with virtually everything that my hon. Friend said. We are profoundly committed to introducing much faster decision making in the asylum system. We are sticking to the two-months and four-months targets for all asylum applicants from April 2001, but I have already made it clear, in the answer that I gave the House last Wednesday, that we intend to process family cases within two months after the introduction of the asylum support directorate arrangements from April next year.
16 My hon. Friend is right to refer to the crooks, spivs and racketeers. I am afraid to say that they include too many members of the legal profession who have got rich by manufacturing asylum claims. Part of the purpose of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which has its Report stage in this House tomorrow and Wednesday, is to crack down on exactly such activity.
§ Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York)We have received the first Kosovan refugees in the Vale of York at New Earswick. The local authority responsible, the City of York, has raised a number of questions concerning the outstanding financial arrangements to be decided by the Home Secretary and his Department. Can the Home Secretary assure us that an early answer will be given?
§ Mr. StrawYes, I can. If the hon. Lady has any further problems on behalf of the local authority, I shall be happy to take them up. I have made it clear that central Government will pay the additional costs incurred by local authorities and the voluntary sector. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Housing will shortly write to all local authorities and voluntary organisations, setting out the detailed arrangements.
§ Mr. Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow)Although I very much welcome what my right hon. Friend has said about speeding up the system, does he agree that the best way to deal with people who make fraudulent claims is to make a quick decision and to enforce it? If most decisions on families are to be made within eight weeks of their making an application, is it worth setting up what amounts to an alternative Benefits Agency in the Home Office to administer the system, to place them up and down the country, and to issue and redeem the vouchers? Would not it be simpler to restore the right to benefits to families, to make decisions quickly and to enforce them on people who make fraudulent claims?
§ Mr. StrawI regret to say that I do not agree with my hon. Friend's assumptions. There is no doubt that the availability of cash benefits in the social security system is a major pull factor that encourages fraudulent claims at port. It is one of the factors that encourages many people whose claims are wholly without foundation to come in clandestinely, particularly to Dover and other south-east ports, from eastern Europe and other countries where they are not under any threat of persecution. They come in principally to claim cash benefits. That is unacceptable, and has placed a disproportionate burden on Kent authorities and on 10 London boroughs, which, between them, account for more than 50 per cent. of asylum seekers being supported by local authorities. I can tell my hon. Friend, who represents one of those London boroughs, that the only practical way to remove the burden from those boroughs and the Kent authorities is to have a national dispersal and asylum support system such as we propose.