§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each local authority which claimed grants from his Department for supporting asylum seekers between 6 December 1999 and 31 March 2000, giving in each case(a) the actual expenditure by the local authority and (b) the grant-eligible expenditure of the local authority. [130112]
512W
§ Mrs. RocheThe information is as follows:
513W
Asylum seekers support grant 6 December to 31 March 1999–2000 Local authority claims £ Local authority Gross expenditure net of housing benefit Grand total grant paid Barking and Dagenham 3,864,101.00 3,864,101.00 Barnet 2,413,926.09 2,353,366.79 Barnsley 162,069.00 139,960.00 Bath and North East Somerset 15,073.37 15,073.37 Bedford 641,600.00 619,240.00 Bexley 401,225.00 401,225.00 Birmingham 1,085,835.20 1,085,835.20 Blackburn with Darwen 39,449.00 25,300.00 Blackpool 25,573.00 25,573.00 Blaenau Gwent County 0.00 0.00 Bolton Metro 115,368.00 112,580.00 Bournemouth 139,270.00 134,480.00 Bracknell Forest 12,185.71 8,600.00 Bradford 70,703.68 70,703.68 Brent 3,632,880.13 2,918,720.00 Bridgend County 3,750.00 3,524.00 Brighton and Hove 316,776.12 316,776.12 Bristol City 409,448.47 409,448.47 Bromley 845,307.00 736,452.00 Buckinghamshire 65,557.53 51,276.00 Bury 183,300.00 79,190.00 Caerphilly County 8,816.63 8,816.63 Calderdale 37,773.00 37,773.00 Cambridgeshire 464,662.00 464,662.00 Camden 3,454,298.00 2,576,460.00 Cardiff 189,947.00 189,947.00 Carmarthenshire 166.00 166.00 Ceredigion CC 0.00 0.00 Cheshire 70,295.00 68,320.00 City of Newcastle 376,906.63 376,906.63 Conwy CBC 0.00 0.00 Cornwall 713.00 713.00 Corporation of London 450,900.00 301,000.00 Coventry 218,670.00 180,123.00 Croydon 901,954.00 901,954.00 Cumbria 350.00 350.00 Darlington 2,745.00 2,745.00 Denbighshire County 1,260.00 1,300.00 Derby 158,420.00 120,680.00 Derbyshire 23,786.00 21,420.00 Devon 18,265.93 18,265.93 Doncaster 47,139.63 47,139.63 Dorset 12,378.00 10,460.00 Dudley 73,759.00 60,820.00 Durham 2,717.97 2,717.97 Ealing 2,239,147.00 2,029,940.00 East Riding of Yorkshire 19,664.00 19,664.00 East Sussex 240,435.00 232,048.00 Enfield 3,144,896.00 3,040,122.00 Essex 576,145.99 518,360.00 Flintshire 1,750.00 1,750.00 Gateshead 54,327.00 54,327.00 Gloucestershire 164,791.00 164,791.00 Greenwich 1,953,404.00 1,953,404.00 Gwynedd 0.00 0.00 Hackney 3,713,649.86 3,687,443.58 Halton 0.00 0.00 Hammersmith and Fulham 4,587,902.00 3,428,220.00 Hampshire 114,017.53 107,034.29 Haringey 6,376,251.00 6,376,251.00 Harrow 1,242,218.00 1,016,220.00 Hartlepool 0.00 0.00 Havering 1,093,419.00 831,961.00 Herefordshire 11,568.32 11,568.32 Hertfordshire 1,230,238.61 1,230,238.61 Hillingdon 3,646,464.00 2,918,320.00
Asylum seekers support grant 6 December to 31 March 1999–2000 Local authority claims £ Local authority Gross expenditure net of housing benefit Grand total grant paid Hounslow 1,754,462.00 1,632,380.00 Isle of Anglesey CC — — Isle of Wight 2,050.00 2,050.00 Isles of Scilly 0.00 0.00 Islington 6,894,840.00 6,894,840.00 Kensington and Chelsea 3,464,507.00 2,883,580.00 Kent 7,522,422.00 7,522,422.00 Kingston upon Hull 215,008.00 199,160.00 Kingston upon Thames 433,750.00 360,520.00 Kirklees 266,883.00 207,393.00 Knowsley 84,778.00 55,648.00 Lambeth 4,333,762.00 4,333,762.00 Lancashire 39,725.85 39,725.85 Leeds 117,718.24 117,718.24 Leicester 417,329.00 412,785.00 Leicestershire 214,732.63 210,954.06 Lewisham 3,012,011.00 3,012,011.00 Lincolnshire 117,746.36 117,746.36 Liverpool 603,857.02 412,171.44 Luton 1,126,123.00 1,126,123.00 Manchester 1,629,507.00 1,607,460.00 Medway 60,710.07 60,710.07 Merthyr Tydfil County 1,220.65 1,220.65 Merton 1,383,158.00 1,282,060.00 Middlesbrough 87,506.00 87,506.00 Milton Keynes 481,624.90 481,624.90 Monmouthshire County 6,425.24 4,480.00 Neath Port Talbot 1,685.81 1,685.81 Newham 6,521,596.00 6,521,596.00 Newport County (South Wales) 29,608.82 25,111.00 Norfolk 145,520.00 145,520.00 North East Lincolnshire 63,051.95 63,051.95 North Lincolnshire 6,853.21 6,853.21 North Somerset 33,078.00 27,140.00 North Tyneside 57,923.50 32,079.83 North Yorkshire 8,854.09 8,854.09 Northamptonshire 4,123,033.00 4,123,033.00 Northumberland 1,700.00 1,700.00 Nottingham 127,131.60 127,131.60 Nottinghamshire 82,792.69 71,153.98 Oldham 54,718.00 54,718.00 Oxfordshire 2,184,757.00 1,988,200.00 Pembrokeshire 6,953.32 6,953.32 Peterborough 103,003.00 103,003.00 Plymouth 42,449.00 42,449.00 Poole 19,620.00 19,620.00 Portsmouth 358,836.00 354,680.00 Powys CC 0.00 0.00 Reading 656,471.00 650,562.00 Redbridge 2,911,757.00 2,911,757.00 Redcar and Cleveland 69,265.25 69,125.79 Rhondda Cynon Taff County 15,595.82 14,160.00 Richmond upon Thames 1,624,087.00 1,063,492.00 Rochdale 86,817.00 78,664.00 Rotherham 100,318.88 55,609.00 Rutland 13,994.90 13,994.90 Salford 115,872.00 115,872.00 Sandwell 246,195.00 246,120.00
514W
Date Monday 24 July London in-country cases Monday 31 July North East, Yorkshire and Humberside and Wales in-country cases Monday 14 August In-country cases in North West, East Midlands, Eastern, South West and South Central Tuesday 29 August In-country cases in West Midlands and Sussex Monday 25 September All disbenefited cases in England and Wales
Asylum seekers support grant 6 December to 31 March 1999–2000 Local authority claims £ Local authority Gross expenditure net of housing benefit Grand total grant paid Sefton 17,393.12 17,393.12 Sheffield 1,163,310.00 1,163,310.00 Shropshire 6,706.00 6,706.00 Slough 2,557,110.00 2,512,480.00 Solihull 18,243.00 18,243.00 Somerset 21,859.72 19,256.00 South Gloucestershire 68,514.74 57,748.37 South Tyneside 80,674.00 26,360.00 Southampton 405,027.78 397,660.00 Southend on Sea 428,857.00 428,857.00 Southwark 5,453,538.00 4,826,420.00 St. Helens 560.00 560.00 Staffordshire 194,055.00 182,338.00 Stockport 99,134.25 81,880.00 Stockton on Tees 8,340.42 8,340.42 Stoke on Trent 86,624.48 81,860.00 Suffolk 56,063.00 53,281.00 Sunderland 84,259.03 64,040.00 Surrey 570,664.00 508,892.00 Sutton 1,156,266.00 970,680.00 Swansea City and County 6,973.15 6,973.15 Swindon 146,469.00 146,469.00 Tameside 44,388.00 37,320.00 Telford and Wrekin 22,813.00 18,800.00 Thurrock 485,941.00 485,941.00 Torbay 0.00 0.00 Torfaen CBC 0.00 0.00 Tower Hamlets 1,241,061.00 998,480.00 Trafford 64,238.68 64,238.68 Vale of Glamorgan 17,380.00 13,320.00 Wakefield 236,803.98 217,340.00 Walsall 75,676.00 64,048.00 Waltham Forest 3,066,246.00 3,066,246.00 Wandsworth 1,625,791.14 1,280,492.52 Warrington 19,800.00 16,660.00 Warwickshire 178,821.00 178,821.00 West Berkshire 12,157.61 12,157.61 West Sussex 269,666.85 229,710.00 Westminster 5,373,888.00 3,477,920.00 Wigan 111,399.00 63,380.00 Wiltshire 78,762.00 76,220.00 Windsor and Maidenhead 24,920.63 20,060.00 Wirral 2,046.66 2,046.66 Wokingham 41,140.00 41,140.00 Wolverhampton 47,966.58 47,966.58 Worcestershire 152,531.00 152,531.00 Wrexham 0.00 0.00 York 4,127.63 4,127.63
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the National Asylum Support Service to assume responsibility for all in-country asylum applicants. [130118]
§ Mrs. RocheI propose to extend the new support arrangements for asylum seekers in England and Wales as set out in Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 according to the following timetable:
515WThe arrangements which take effect between 24 July and 29 August will apply to all new asylum seekers in England and Wales who claim asylum on, or after, the relevant dates set out in the table (in-country applications in Scotland and Northern Ireland are already covered by the new arrangements). All asylum seekers who are currently being supported by local authority social services departments under the interim arrangements in Schedule 9 to the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will continue to be so supported.
"Disbenefited cases" are those asylum seekers who, prior to 3 April 2000, were in receipt of social security benefits, but who on or after 25 September 2000 receive a first negative decision, who are thus no longer eligible for social security benefits, who go on to appeal and who continue to be eligible for support.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have(a) been offered, (b) accepted and (c) refused an offer of accommodation by him under the support arrangements introduced on and after 1 April. [130108]
§ Mrs. RocheThe National Asylum Support Service began on 3 April 2000. The available information is that as at 3 July 2000 there had been 5,100 claims for support from asylum seekers. Not all claims for support will involve a request for accommodation. Of these claims, 2,190 were offered accommodation.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the state of contract negotiations between the National Asylum Support Service and each of the regional consortiums. [130113]
§ Mrs. RocheAs of 10 July, contracts have been exchanged with Scotland and the North-East. Negotiations with other consortia are ongoing and we hope that a number of areas will be signing up over the coming months. I am not prepared to give information about the current state of any of these negotiations, since to do so could harm the outcome of these negotiations.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how may children of school age are(a) asylum seekers and (b) dependants of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom; how many of those children have been dispersed outside London and the South-East; and if he will make a statement. [130109]
§ Mrs. RocheIn 1999, the United Kingdom received 3,349 applications for asylum from unaccompanied minors (aged under 18).
Information on the age of asylum seeker dependants in the United Kingdom is not currently available.
Information on dispersal of asylum seekers by age is not held centrally.
§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will delay the placement of additional asylum seekers in Plymouth until proper facilities and support services are in place which are fully funded by his Department. [130120]
§ Mrs. RocheLondon and the South-East have had to manage a disproportionate number of asylum seekers and there is a recognised need to disperse asylum seekers to suitable areas throughout the United Kingdom. National Asylum Support Service (NASS) has acquired some516W accommodation in Plymouth through the private sector who are contracted to provide various services, apart from accommodation. There is a "one stop shop" located in Plymouth. We are satisfied that adequate facilities and support infrastructure are available for asylum seekers in Plymouth and that there is no need to delay further placements.
§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the negotiations to place asylum seekers in Plymouth and the extent to which he consulted the South West Consortium of local authorities. [130119]
§ Mrs. RocheWe have made clear our intention to disperse asylum seekers throughout the United Kingdom. The placing of asylum seekers in Plymouth is part of that dispersal programme. As of 10 July, ten asylum seekers have been dispersed to Plymouth by the National Asylum Support Service. There is an established consultation process between NASS and the regional consortiums regarding dispersal and siting of cluster areas. NASS last wrote to the South West Consortium confirming that Plymouth remained a cluster area on 8 June. The consortium is also fully aware of the contractors within the area.
The Director of NASS has written to the Chief Executive of South Gloucestershire explaining the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of property in Plymouth and expressing regret that we were unable to consult in advance.
§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements have been made to put dispersed asylum seekers in contact with immigration and advisory services which offer free advice. [129473]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Legal Services Commission provides funding, through contracts with quality-assured suppliers of legal services, for the provision of free legal advice and representation to those who are eligible. In addition, the voluntary sector is establishing "one stop shops" in each of the cluster areas where asylum seekers can obtain advice.
§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will supply immigration and advisory services that provide free advice with the names and addresses of dispersed asylum seekers. [129472]
§ Mrs. RocheNo. The routine disclosure of personal details of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service to third parties would not be compatible with data protection legislation or our duty to confidentiality to asylum seekers.