HC Deb 17 February 1995 vol 254 c872W
Mr. Churchill

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what circumstances the habitual residence test is applied to asylum seekers.

Mr. Roger Evans

It was and remains Government policy that the habitual residence test should not apply to asylum seekers. The independent adjudicating authorities considered that the test applied to all income support claimants since its introduction in August 1994, including asylum seekers, but have now revised their position and concluded that the test does not apply to claimants who are already defined as "persons from abroad" in the income support rules.