§ Ms Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on those asylum seekers who are in receipt of social security benefits and who on or after 25 September 2000 receive a negative decision on their claim. [147944]
§ Mrs. RocheAny asylum seeker who is in receipt of social security benefits and whose asylum claim is recorded as refused on or after 25 September 2000 and who would otherwise be destitute, may seek support from768W the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). It is the Government's policy to offer accommodation to asylum seekers which is outside London and the south-east in order to relieve the pressure on London and the south-east.
Asylum seekers who are no longer entitled to social security benefits after 25 September and who apply for a full support package from NASS are likely to be offered accommodation outside the south-east. However, NASS will give due consideration to cases where there are exceptional compelling or compassionate reasons why the asylum seeker should be allowed to remain in the area in which he was living at the time the social security benefits were stopped. In cases where families have children who have attended a particular school for at least 12 months, we will give consideration to enabling those asylum seeker families to remain in their existing accommodation so that the education of those children is not unduly disrupted.
In other cases, however, the expectation is that accommodation will be offered outside the south-east.