HC Deb 15 January 2001 vol 361 cc118-20W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the determination of the age of asylum seekers claiming to be minors; what plans he has to revise that guidance; and if he will make a statement. [145336]

Mrs. Roche

No such guidance has been issued to local authorities. National Asylum Support Service officials have discussed age dispute cases with local authority officials, who have responsibility for supporting asylum seeking children.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of housing asylum seekers who fall outside the dispersal scheme. [145329]

Mrs. Roche

Some asylum seekers provided with accommodation by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) are not dispersed. In these cases the costs of their accommodation are met by the NASS.

Local authorities are required to house only those asylum seekers supported by local authorities under the interim scheme (which consists of in-country asylum applicants who claimed asylum before the roll-out of the new NASS support arrangements and port applicants who received a first negative decision before the NASS roll-out) and those who are eligible for social security benefits (having claimed asylum at port before 3 April 2000 and not having had an initial decision on their case) and have a priority need for accommodation under the homelessness legislation. Local authorities can recover these costs by way of Government grant which is subject to unit cost limits.

Based on unaudited grant claims submitted to the Home Office the net costs of local authorities in England and Wales of providing support to asylum seekers under the interim scheme, including housing and subsistence, for the first six months of 2000–01 was £7 million.

Detailed information about the costs of the local authorities of accommodating asylum seekers under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (the homelessness legislation) is not held centrally.

The latest figure available for net expenditure by local housing authorities in England on securing accommodation for households under the homelessness legislation (excluding administration costs) is £74 million in 1998–99.

Information about the number of households accommodated by local authorities in England under the homelessness legislation who are asylum seekers was not collected by central Government prior to the second quarter of 1999. Between June 1999 and September 2000, the proportion of such households was typically around 16 per cent.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of the policy bulletins issued by the National Asylum Support Service. [145080]

Mrs. Roche

Copies of all current policy bulletins issued by the National Asylum Support Service have been placed in the Library.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the duties of social services to asylum seekers who are unaccompanied minors when they reach the age of 18 years; and if he will make a statement. [145338]

Mrs. Roche

No such guidance has been issued to local authorities. However, over the past 12 months National Asylum Support Service (NASS) officials have had discussions with local authority organisations on the most appropriate way of ensuring a smooth transition from care under the Children's Act 1989 to the NASS system of support.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's asylum policy following the judgment of the House of Lords in the case of Aitseguer and Adan. [145334]

Mrs. Roche

We are disappointed that the House of Lords took the same view as the Court of Appeal in these cases, which raised issues about differing interpretations of the 1951 Refugee Convention in France and Germany.

Since 2 October 2000 section 11 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 has provided that all European Union member states are considered safe destinations for the purpose of transfers under the Dublin Convention. This applies to all current and future cases, but the cases of Adan and Aitseguer pre-date this provision.

The judgment will affect how we deal with a group of about 300 cases seeking to rely on similar issues. We are now considering what action to take in those cases. We already know that many of them can be distinguished from the issues in Adan and Aitseguer. We will therefore continue to make arrangements where appropriate for their transfer to the member state properly responsible for considering their claims under the Dublin Convention.

The Government remain concerned about the effects of differing interpretations of the Refugee Convention in the different European Union member states. The United Kingdom will be actively involved in the forthcoming negotiations to establish minimum standards across the Union in respect of the qualification of nationals of third countries as refugees.