§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the answers given by Baroness Cumberlege to Earl Russell and to Lord Pearson of Rannoch (H.L. Deb., 25 February 1997, cols. 1038 and 1039), what items account for the difference between "full" and "reasonable" reimbursement of local authority expenditure on asylum seekers, and why reimbursement is to be withheld for those items.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The grant is based on a unit cost.
Local authorities may claim for any expenditure lawfully incurred in accommodating adult asylum seekers under Section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948. They will be reimbursed for that claim in full provided it does not, on an average weekly cost basis, exceed the unit cost figure of £165 per week per person (plus a discretionary addition for infrastructure costs) which the Government believe to be a reasonable level of expenditure.