§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the organisations which have agreed to provide accommodation on contract to the National Asylum Seekers Support Agency. [113785]
§ Mrs. RocheWe are currently concluding negotiations with accommodation providers prior to awarding contracts very shortly. In the meantime, information about those providers, including their identities, must be treated as commercially confidential.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 March 2000,Official Report, columns 556–58W, to the hon. Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) what additional funding will be provided to local authorities supporting asylum seekers after 1 April. [113797]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Home Office has a provisional allocation of £300 million to meet the costs of supporting asylum seekers in 2000–01. The cost of supporting asylum seekers is sensitive to a wide range of factors, 819W including the level of applications, the rate for take-up of support and the speed with which applications are processed. We are continuing to work with local authorities and others to determine an accurate estimate of costs and consider the most suitable method of reimbursement.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many units of accommodation for asylum seekers after 1 April he has asked the National Asylum Seekers Support Agency to secure; how many such units of accommodation have been secured so far; and if he will make a statement. [113788]
§ Mrs. RocheWe intend to have enough accommodation from 3 April to take destitute port asylum applicants on to the new support arrangements. We aim to build up numbers fairly swiftly from there on to be able to bring in-country applicants on to the arrangements as soon as possible.
We expect to conclude supplier negotiations and award contracts very shortly.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on asylum seeker support in(a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; [113787]
(2) what estimate he has made of the amount of money his Department will pay to local authorities in 2000–01 to reimburse them for the costs of supporting asylum seekers who claim asylum on or after 1 April. [113789]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Home Office has provisional allocations of £300 million to meet the costs of supporting asylum seekers in 2000–01 and £250 million in 2001–02.
The cost of supporting asylum seekers is sensitive to a wide range of factors, including the level of applications, the rate for take-up of support and the speed with which applications are processed. We are continuing to work with local authorities and others to determine an accurate estimate of costs and consider the most suitable method of reimbursement.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims for asylum have been submitted by people who came into the United Kingdom(a) under the United Nations Humanitarian Evacuation Plan from Kosovo and (b) through organised medical evacuations from Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [113323]
§ Mrs. Roche[holding answer 6 March 2000]: Non-Governmental Organisations representing Kosovan Albanians evacuated to the United Kingdom have been asked to direct applications for asylum to a central unit in the Integrated Casework Directorate of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. These records show two asylum applications to have been made by people who came into the United Kingdom from Kosovo under the United Nations Humanitarian Evacuation Plan, one of which has subsequently been withdrawn, and that none have been made by people who came into the United Kingdom from Kosovo through organised medical evacuations.