§ Mr. BaldryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply of 25 October 1999,Official Report, column 689 on asylum seekers, if asylum seekers will be deemed to be statutorily homeless. [96543]
§ Mrs. RocheAsylum seekers who are destitute will be able to apply for accommodation and other essential living needs under the arrangements made under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Bill. Once those arrangements are in place, only those asylum seekers who are entitled to social security benefits will be entitled to assistance under the homelessness legislation.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on plans for standardisation of the appeal system for asylum seekers whose asylum request has been rejected, following Tampere. [96572]
§ Mrs. RocheI am aware of no such plans, although consideration of appeal procedures may in due course feature in work on minimum standards for the qualification of nationals of third countries as refugees in accordance with article 63 of the Treaty of Amsterdam. The United Kingdom has the choice of opting into these measures.